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News Anchor

Academic programs / Undergraduate degrees / Career opportunities / News Anchor

News Anchor

Explore employment trends, required job duties and skills for this career. ASU offers a variety of degrees that can help you prepare for and meet your career goals. Visit ASU's Career and Professional Development Services to learn how to develop your career plan.

Potential job titles in this career
Anchor, Announcer, DJ (Disc Jockey), Host, Morning Show Host, On-Air Host, On-Air Personality, Radio Announcer, Sports Anchor, Television News Anchor (TV News Anchor)

* Additional schooling, certification, or degrees maybe be required for some of the potential careers that are listed.
What will I do?
  • Read news flashes to inform audiences of important events.
  • Announce musical selections, station breaks, commercials, or public service information, and accept requests from listening audience.
  • Operate control consoles.
  • Identify stations, and introduce or close shows, ad-libbing or using memorized or read scripts.
  • Study background information to prepare for programs or interviews.
  • Prepare and deliver news, sports, or weather reports, gathering and rewriting material so that it will convey required information and fit specific time slots.
  • Record commercials for later broadcast.
  • Keep daily program logs to provide information on all elements aired during broadcast, such as musical selections and station promotions.
  • Develop story lines for broadcasts.
  • Select program content, in conjunction with producers and assistants, based on factors such as program specialties, audience tastes, or requests from the public.
  • In this career, it is important to know
    Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
    It's useful to be good at
    Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

    Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

    Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

    Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

    Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

    Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

    Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

    Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

    Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

    Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
    Employment trends
    Location Pay period 2025
    10% 25% Median% 75% 90%
    United States Hourly $13.55 $17.00 $22.76 $36.29 $66.56
    Yearly $28,190 $35,360 $47,340 $75,480 $138,440
    Arizona Hourly $15.69 $17.18 $23.04 $37.49 $97.29
    Yearly $32,630 $35,730 $47,930 $77,980 $202,370
    2025 Median%
    United States $22.76 Hourly $47,340 Yearly
    Arizona $23.04 Hourly $47,930 Yearly

    Employment (2025)
    21,800 employees
    Projected growth (2025 - 2035)
    Decline (-2% or lower)
    Projected job openings (2025 - 2035)
    2,000
    * Data obtained from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).

    Frequently asked questions about degree programs

    Accelerated programs allow students the opportunity to expedite the completion of their degree.

    Accelerated master's

    These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).

    Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master's during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.

    Concurrent degrees allow students to pursue their own personal or professional interests, earn two distinct degrees and receive two diplomas. To add a concurrent degree to your existing degree, work with your academic advisor.

    Joint programs, or jointly conferred degrees, are offered by more than one college and provide opportunities for students to take advantage of the academic strengths of two academic units. Upon graduation, students are awarded one degree and one diploma conferred by two colleges.

    ASU adds new programs to Degree Search frequently. Come back often and look for the "New Programs" option.

    ASU Online offers programs in an entirely online format with multiple enrollment sessions throughout the year. See https://asuonline.asu.edu/ for more information.

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