Local newsreaders enjoy soaring pay but often short careers
Walter Cronkite, eat your heart out.
The job of network anchor may, after years of struggle, bring nationwide fame and fortune. But there are now literally hundreds of men and women who, sometimes with the flimsiest of credentials, are making big names and big money anchoring local news programs. That ostensibly undemanding vocation is fast becoming the most financially rewarding job in journalism.
Dozens of local anchors are making more than $100,000 a year, and at least 16 make $200,000 or more (see box). Of course,...