How to Become Anchor

Pakistan is one of the successful countries with respect to media having a huge number of TV channels. There are lots of career opportunities and scope in the field of anchoring. To put it simply, an anchor is a journalist whose duty is to discuss affairs and event happening on local, national and international level.

The following are included in an anchor's duties:

  • Interpret and discuss news and events in a way that interests viewers and listeners
  • Carry out interviews with experts for additional information or opinions
  • Investigate stories
  • collect, verify, and analyze data from  different sources

To land a successful career in the field of anchoring, there are a number of steps that you need to take:

  • Get a relevant degree

In order to become an anchor, you could start your journey from bachelors and obtain a degree after intermediate with 50% or above marks in programs such as Journalism, Mass communication, media sciences. There are about 24 different media studies programs offered at bachelor level in Pakistan with different names. For more details you can visit https://www.eduvision.edu.pk/programs-offered-in-media-studies-at-bachelor-level-in-pakistan. Even if you do not have a degree in a relevant field, you can get into anchoring if you have obtained a degree such as literature, political science and international affairs. They key to being a good anchor is having a strong grip on current affairs and plentiful knowledge of the affairs happening around the world.

  • Get work in the field

To get a head start in anchoring, you will have to more than just getting a bachelor degree. Try to get involved in practical work to gain experience such as joining your college newspaper or interning with a local channel. Joining the mainstream media might be difficult as a fresher as competition is high. You may also start your own blog or even your own YouTube channel instead. Nowadays a lot of well-known personalities have chosen this path for their career and moved away from mainstream media.

  • Consider getting a master's degree

Although a master’s degree is not necessary to enter the field as an anchor, it can help in growth in the profession.

Key skills and tips to become a TV anchor

Becoming a TV anchor is not an easy task to achieve on the basis of a degree or experience. To stand out, you should have some innate qualities and further polish those qualities. Some skills that come handy in anchoring include:

  • Excellent verbal and communication skills. public speaking and interviewing skills are essential to excel as an anchor
  • Writing and editorial skills: anchors are sometimes responsible for writing stories that they are covering.
  • Clear and coherent speaker. This is field in which your voice and tone is key. You should have an authoritative and compelling nature as this will give you credibility with your audience
  • Know how of current affairs and general knowledge. This could be achieved by reading newspapers and watching current affair TV shows in your routine. Take part in debates and group discussion speech and competitions in your institute
  • Be free from bias.  If you want to be an honest TV reporter or news anchor, then you'll have to learn to put your prejudices aside and give information in an unbiased and objective manner.
  • Physical stamina and determination. You may be required to work long hours or put a lot physical effort to cover events in different places
  • Team work and collaboration: Good interpersonal skills will allow you to function as part of the on-air team as well as work well with others behind the scenes.

You may want to consult a career expert or counsellor to get an idea if you fulfil the criteria and skills and have the aptitude required to become an anchor.


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