Katy Tur

My parents covered police pursuits, and it was, in many ways, the beginnings of reality show TV in this captivating story that was a lot of flash but not all that much substance.

I'm a natural compartmentalizer.

A traditional presidential campaign has a media bus with the candidate's name on it and an itinerary days in advance. Trump has a plane with his name on it (that we aren't invited on) and an itinerary that often mutates daily, along with his talking points.

Let me clarify a few things about TV news on the national level at NBC and MSNBC. We write our own stories. There is no teleprompter for reporters. No traveling makeup artists or stylists. And there is very little sleep.

Trump is a room-reader. He'll slow down a line, rephrase a point, work in a pause, and ride the energy of his audience wherever it takes him.

My parents are incredible, and they did incredible things.

It's a truth of beat reporting: The bigger your subject gets, the bigger you get.

I went off to the University of California, Santa Barbara, on a boatload of loans, sights set on becoming a doctor or a lawyer.

My parents got ahead in the news business with wits, guts, and a creative interpretation of 'fair game.' They leased their first helicopter in 1985, when KTLA news crews were on strike. Maybe the crews had good grievances, maybe not. Either way, my parents ignored the strike and went to work.

My mom likes to say I've been covering news since the day I was born - longer if you count my time in utero.

For one of my first TV jobs, I was required to cut my hair, dress a certain way, and wear a certain amount of makeup. I was even told to have my hair cut based on a picture in a magazine. I realized that until I complied, I wasn't going to get any airtime.

I've started baking. Having my hands deep in dough keeps them away from my phone.

I still doubt myself every single day.

You don't go after veterans in this country. If there's one thing that's sacrosanct, it is the American military veteran.

Maybe it's because I'm jaded, but not a lot scares me.

I've always been an outsider. I think, being in the White House press corps, it's difficult to do the sort of journalism that I would want to do.

I think I fundamentally understand the way Trump thinks.

If you're not competitive, if you're not out to make a mark, you shouldn't be in the news business.

I don't hold a lot to the vest. I'm a bit of an open book, as anyone who knows me would contest. Confess? Attest? There's the word I'm looking for!

Listen, the guy was not created by coverage from MSNBC and CNN. If you want to blame us for making Donald Trump president because you're unhappy about it, I think you are deluding yourself. Donald Trump hit a nerve.