A crew will arrive in the morning, unpack all the equipment, and cart it to the right location (it depends whether you're shooting center field or third base). He walked me through a typical day shooting a baseball game, and the big takeaway was that it can be a long, arduous process. But one thing's constant: He never calls it a 'game.' He's always shooting a 'show,' a name that's apt because of both the scope of his day and the much wider range of stuff he shoots. Sonnenburg is a freelancer and works a wide variety of jobs, so procedures vary from game to game. My Perfect Moment was when Iris truly did remember me again.A photo posted by Joe Sonnenburg on at 4:30pm PDT We made that cuppa and then sat for hours, justing hanging out in each other's presence.Īnd family told me that she talked a lot that next week about the fun morning with Robin sitting on the porch. Once we were in the car and heading toward home, Iris relaxed. When I first appeared, she cocked her head looking a little unsure and asked 'What's happening?!' She was ready to go for a ride, but not quite sure who she was going with. I picked her up on the next Saturday morning so she could spend some time with me sitting on the porch, reading and drinking a cup of tea. I hadn't been by to visit for a couple of weeks and when my name was brought up, she was a little fuzzy on just who I am and what I mean to the family. And most of all she remembers her husband, the love of her life who's been gone since 1996. She remembers she loves a cup of tea, and R&B, and riding in the car. She remembers her kids, when to go to meals, the walking route around her complex. They look extra-serious because they are taking a quiz. Even graduating seniors stop and take note. John tells them the story caught on video above.īecause Spring 2014 at the Cronkite School of Journalism has been our final semester (we're going to take a little break), I was moved to record the tale that John always shares during these last minutes that we still have the students' attention. I tell tell them not to be afraid to change directions along the way and to remember that they are snowballs - always accumulating knowledge, experience, skills that will serve them well no matter what they do.

In the final minutes of the final day of each semester, we offer some last words of advice to our students. And I think the best students leave our class understanding that too. I was very lucky to teach with such a caring, passionate educator and journalist. But even so, after six semesters together, we've gotten into a pretty smooth routine. The topic is a moving target and we are constantly updating our class content. It didn't take long for us to get in step with each other, using some of what John had taught before and adding new wrinkles to the class syllabus. John had taught the class on his own for two semesters before I signed on. And I share lots of information about what newsrooms are doing these days to attempt to guarantee that they'll be around in the Future. John is awesome talking about 'Big B' Business. We teach a course about the Business & Future of Journalism. What did she do? She got the job done and had an adorable plus-one for all her adventures.įor the last three years, six semesters to be precise, I have co-taught a 400-level required journalism course with John Dille, the wise man in the video above. What did you do on your summer vacation? That little guy watched videos and chatted with his mom all the way from Chicago to L.A. Her young son who was on a very cool field trip with his mom. She was trading a middle seat back in the cattle car to sit with her boy. That's when he realized she was sending him back up to First Class where her corporate-funded seat was. He said sure, got up, retrieved his bag and exchanged tickets. She leaned down and quietly asked the man in the middle seat if he'd swap tickets with her so she could sit next to her son. The sweet part came when she got to the row in front of me. She had a meeting somewhere, but she also had a little one who was out of school. The only difference was she was holding on to the hand of a 6-year-old boy. She wandered down the aisle in her power suit with the rest of us.

One of the sweetest things I saw on my trips this summer was a woman who appeared to be a pretty senior exec - you know how it goes, fashion, nails, hair. And it takes me away from family, friends, routine. It certainly can be a great perk, but traveling for work is also tiring. The people in my newsrooms who got to go on trips were doing cool stuff. Vacations, family, conventions.Įarly in my career, I thought travel was romantic.

Cameraman caught the perfect moment