Plural of anchorman; male television or radio news presenters, or relay runners in the final position of a team race.
From 'anchor' + 'men' (plural of man). In broadcasting, the 'anchor' metaphor suggests the presenter as the stable center holding the news program together.
The term 'anchorman' became famous with TV news in the 1950s-60s, and it's interesting that we borrowed a nautical term—the anchor person literally anchors the entire broadcast experience.
Anchormen typically refers to broadcast journalists; the male default form ('men') was historically used even when women occupied these roles, rendering women's professional presence linguistically invisible. The gendered term persists despite workforce integration.
Use 'anchors' or 'news anchors' as gender-neutral term. When specificity needed, use 'female anchor' or 'male anchor' explicitly.
["anchors","news anchors","broadcast journalists"]
Women broadcast journalists like Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, and countless others achieved prominence in anchoring despite being linguistically erased by 'anchormen.' Their visibility and authority were diminished by masculine-default terminology.
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