I am friends with one of the producers or what ever for the local CBS network. He told me he is the one that has to get all the stories/news etc and then writes the script. All the anchors do is read it. He doesn't make near the money they do
He admits he is restrained on how he can write the news . If he wrote it they way he really saw some of it he would be out of a job
Ten million for being an established "personality", a face and a voice that public recognizes and trusts. That trust is founded on almost no actual substance, all appearance, but for marketing purposes it is paramount.
It's like having a live headless chicken at a State Fair. It draws the crowds. A hundred thousand dollar chicken sounds equally bizarre, but if you got it flaunt it. It is the franchise. It's the draw. It's what brings the gate.