The Origins of Television's “Anchor Man
Cronkite, Swayze, and Journalism Boundary Work
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7495752 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mike Conway (0000-0002-3209-8108, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 445-467 |
| Publication date | 2014-10-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journalism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0882-1127 • E-ISSN: 2326-2486 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/08821127.2015.967149 |
| OpenAlex | W2015515997 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
Journalism history honors Walter Cronkite as television's first “anchor man” for his work on the 1952 political convention telecasts even though John Cameron Swayze had that title years earlier for his work on a quiz show. We remember Cronkite as the anchor and Swayze is forgotten because of a subtle competition and a case of journalism boundary work that took place during the last decades of the twentieth century in interviews, memoirs, and media history books over the origin of what has become one of the most powerful positions in journalism. The accepted “anchor man” origin story implies a coherent progression from early television to today with a recognizable role model, while the real beginning of the term reveals a more nuanced picture of the chaotic and uncertain time when television's direction and the delineation of roles on the visual medium had yet to crystallize
Boundary-work · Convention · Journalism · Media studies · Memoir · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Work (physics · Literature, Film, and Journalism Analysis · Media Studies and Communication · History · Law
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2026 (10) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |