In Memoriam
Joseph William
Shoquist
by Dr. Henry Price
Joseph William Shoquist, 84, died Saturday, Feb. 27
at Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community in Columbia, South
Carolina. He was born November 30, 1925, In Lone Tree, Iowa, to Walter
and Bertha Shoquist.
 He was often asked about the unusual name of his birth place, and
he would quickly respond that the name was entirely appropriate because
there, indeed, had been one lone tree, long since gone, in Lone Tree,
Iowa.
In fact, he took great pleasure from a picture of that lone tree
that was presented to him by Prof. Don Woolley, one of his faculty
members, when Shoquist became the dean of the University of South
Carolina’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications on
March 31, 1986. Shoquist continued as dean of the journalism program
until his retirement on June 30, 1991.
After education in local public schools, Shoquist attended the
University of Iowa, interrupting his education to serve in the Army
during 1946 and 1947. He received a B.A. in journalism in 1948 and
an M.A. in 1951.
According to information gathered by Amy Rabideau Silvers of the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Shoquist began his professional career
as a sports writer, working briefly with the Boise Statesman in 1948
before moving to the Idaho Falls Post Register. During the 1951-1952
school year, Shoquist was an instructor at the Journalism School
of the University of Montana. From 1952 to 1954 he was general assignment
reporter for the Great Falls Tribune.
In 1954, Shoquist relocated to Milwaukee to take a position as
copy editor for the Milwaukee Sentinel. The following year he became
a copy editor with the Milwaukee Journal. During the following years,
he advanced to become telegraph editor in 1959, assistant news editor
and then news editor in 1964, and assistant managing editor in 1966.
In 1967, he was appointed managing editor.
Throughout his career, Shoquist was active in various professional
organizations including the Associated Press Managing Editors Association,
the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Wisconsin Associated
Press Association and the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism
and Mass Communications. He served as president of the APME in 1979
and president of ACEJ in 1983. Shoquist had a strong interest in
issues concerning First Amendment rights and professional ethics.
As head of the APME's Professional Standards Committee, he wrote
the organization's widely used code of ethics. He was one of the
founders of the First Amendment Congress in 1980.
Shoquist also served as a Pulitzer juror in 1978 and 1979. He was
one of the co-founders of the First Amendment Congress’ board
of trustees. The University of Iowa chapter of Kappa Tau Alpha, a
national journalism scholastic society, named him to its Hall of
Fame in 1973.
As a journalist, Shoquist traveled to India, Burma (now Myanmar),
Thailand, Taiwan and Japan. He also covered President Richard Nixon’s
trip to the Soviet Union in 1972 and visited Iran and Poland during
the 1972 trip. Later, as managing editor of The Milwaukee Journal,
Shoquist was a questioner at Nixon’s news conference in November
1973 when the President made the famous comment: “I am not
a crook.”
While dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications,
Shoquist was successful in gaining much needed resources for the
college, changing the profile of the faculty and making great strides
toward diversity. He pushed hard for and gained approval for a doctoral
program for the college. His five years as dean were noted for growth,
professionalism, high morale and civility. The faculty knew they
could count on Dean Shoquist to be their champion in matters that
affected them.
When he retired as dean in 1991, Shoquist was
quoted in “Intercom,” the college’s publication,
as saying he would like to be remembered as a champion of ethics.
He added, “I’d also like to be remembered as an
editor who ran a successful newspaper, a newspaper with fierce
independence. We simply weren’t obligated to anybody.
We were a scrappy newspaper. I think the worst thing a newspaper
can do is to toady to special interests.”
An avid outdoorsman, Shoquist enjoyed nothing better than
a day spent afield. For many years, he reloaded
his own hunting ammunition. His extensive ballistics
knowledge was a source of information to his many friends across
the country with whom he spent days shooting, hunting and fishing. His
special recipe of venison paprika was a welcome addition
to any table.
He is well-remembered for all those things and as a man of
high intelligence, unquestioned integrity and fierce loyalty
to his family, friends and colleagues.
Shoquist was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 51
years, Dorothy. He is survived by his son, Paul, of Columbia,
his daughter, Sally, of Jackson, Wyo., and two sisters, Jean
Hughes Wright of Calistoga, Calif., and Carol Wolford of Shenandoah,
Iowa.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 6, at 2
p.m. in Rutledge Chapel on the campus of the University of
South Carolina.
The family suggests contributions to the Joseph W. and Dorothy
Shoquist Scholarship Fund or the Joseph W. and Dorothy Shoquist
Doctoral Fellowship Fund. Gifts to either fund should be payable
to USC Foundations and mailed to USC Gift Processing, 1600
Hampton Street, Columbia, SC 29208.
Comments
from The State newspaper article posted on March 2>
Smikey017 wrote on 03/02/2010
I went to USC when Shoquist was the dean. He actually made
calls and helped me get my first job with Gannett. What a
great journalist and superior dean. My condolences to the
family.
Michael B. Smith, USA TODAY.
FromMemphis wrote on 03/02/2010:
I was in the J-School during his time as well. Condolences
to the family.
sacbuoy wrote on 03/02/2010:
Wayne Washington is one of The State's best writers and was
a journalism student at USC when Shoquist was dean. |
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Former Journal managing editor
wrote the book on ethics
by Amy Rabideau Silvers of the Journal Sentinel
Joseph
W. Shoquist believed that good ethics made for good journalism.
To that end, Shoquist, then managing editor of The Milwaukee
Journal, wrote the ethics code for the editorial staff in 1973.
Later, as chairman of the Associated Press Managing Editors
Association's professional standards committee, he wrote its
code of ethics. Patterned after The Journal's, it was widely
adopted at newspapers throughout the country.
"I would hope," he once said, "that somebody
would remember me for trying to maintain a high standard of
ethics and honesty in our business."
Read more>
Add
your condolences and memories and read other tributes
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