This episode's guest Katy Blakey, weekend morning anchor and a reporter during the week at NBC 5 News. Born and raised in McKinney, Katy is a proud graduate of McKinney High School and Southern Methodist University. She graduated president of her class with a BA in journalism and political science. Katy is an Emmy Award-winning reporter, and her work has also been honored with Lone Star Emmy nominations, including Best News Anchor, and was recognized by the Oklahoma Associated Press.

Katy began her career as a reporter and anchor for KTEN-TV in Denison, Texas, where her investigative reports into private jail funding led to resignations and changes in local law enforcement.

Later, Katy co-anchored the weekday morning news and reported for KOCO in Oklahoma City, OK. The first reporter on the scene of a deadly medical helicopter crash, her reporting also included a hostage situation ending with the rescue of a six-year-old girl, devastating wildfires and severe storms. She tracked rare twin tornadoes, covered multiple tornado outbreaks, reported on the wide-scale destruction and heroic rescue operations left by a massive EF5 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma and President Obama's tour of damaged communities.

No stranger to breaking news or severe weather, Katy solo-anchored live coverage of the early morning attack on Dallas Police Headquarters and hours-long stand-off. She covered the national outpouring of support for five DPD officers killed while protecting a peaceful protest in downtown Dallas and traveled to Houston for President George H. W. Bush’s memorial services.

On the coast as Hurricane Harvey made landfall, she provided extensive coverage of rescue and relief operations as the storm caused catastrophic flooding in the Houston area. From endearing "Texas Connects Us" stories to following a young cancer patient bringing smiles, hope and congressional attention to much needed funding for childhood cancer research to reporting from the mass shooting tragedies in Orlando and Las Vegas, Katy understands the privilege of reporting local and national news to her hometown community.

During my conversation with Katy, we discuss what it takes to be a journalist, some of the impactful stories in her career, chasing tornadoes, and so much more on episode number 44, of the Avert Your Eyes Podcast! Consider yourself warned...

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