It wasn’t that long ago — 2014 — when Rich Holden stepped down and Linda Shockley was appointed managing director of the Dow Jones News Fund.
The Aug. 25 2014 press release read:
Linda Shockley Appointed Head of Dow Jones News Fund
PRINCETON, N.J. — The Dow Jones News Fund announced the appointment of Linda Shockley as managing director of the Fund, a nonprofit that encourages high school and college students to pursue careers in journalism by sponsoring summer workshops and providing internships.
Ms. Shockley has been deputy director of the Fund since 1992, four years after joining as assistant to the director.
Richard J. Levine, president of the Fund’s board of directors, said: “Linda has led the Fund with a sure hand since April. The depth and breadth of her experience in almost all aspects of the Fund’s work and her passionate commitment to its mission of promoting journalism careers among students and helping diversify the nation’s newsrooms will be invaluable in her new role.
“While her background is in print journalism, Linda has acquired a broad range of digital skills. This combination will enable her to strengthen and expand the Fund’s digital programs while maintaining quality instruction in the basics of journalism— accurate and unbiased reporting, clear and compelling writing and superb copy editing.”
During her quarter century with the Fund, Ms. Shockley’s primary responsibilities included managing the Fund’s support of summer high school journalism workshops to promote diversity and overseeing the business reporting internship program since its inception in 1995. She has also been responsible for Adviser Update, the quarterly newspaper for high school media teachers, alumni relations and the National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year program.
Before joining the Fund, she spent more than 12 years as an education reporter, news editor, bureau chief, columnist and city editor at what was then Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Westchester County, New York.
Ms. Shockley holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Bridgeport and has been the recipient of many honors for her work in scholastic journalism. These include the Robert Knight Multicultural Recruitment Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication; a Gold Key from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and the Pioneer Award from the National Scholastic Press Association.
She is a member of the American Society of News Editors, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Journalism Education Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Online News Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
She was a natural fit. After all, she’d been with the Fund for a quarter of a century. Right away, she proved she was an asset as the leader of the Fund and supporter of our program at the University of Texas started by Griff Singer.
Her answer was never “No.” It was always “Let’s figure out how to make that happen.”
And, this past year, with the new coronovirus pandemic bring our country to a halt, her leadership skills shone. She got everyone together and discussed options. She talked with students, with editors, with workshop directors and with her board members. Ultimately, she made the tough call to go all virtual.
It was a tough call. It was the right call. And from then on out, it was “How can we make it happen?”
As a testimony to her leadership, almost all of the interns who had been selected last fall had some internship experience. Some deferred to next summer. It wasn’t easy. But she made it happen.
Linda has been an asset not only to the Dow Jones News Fund but to the Journalism Education Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and, well, every other journalism association out there. She was always looking for partnerships and for ways to expose the students she worked with to all that those groups had to offer.
I find it hard to believe that we’ve heard the last of Linda. And I look forward to working with her in whatever new capacity she finds. She will, undoubtedly, be an asset to journalism students and the journalism profession.
Aug. 11, 2020
Shockley Retiring from DJNF
PRINCETON, N.J. — The Dow Jones News Fund announced that Linda Shockley, managing director since 2014, will retire October 1 after 32 years with Dow Jones.
DJNF is a private foundation founded in 1958 by editors of The Wall Street Journal and supported by Dow Jones. It promotes careers in journalism by providing paid professional summer internships for college students with newspapers, news services, websites and broadcast outlets. It also funds high school workshops and publishes career literature. Diversity and inclusion are central to its work.
Ms. Shockley is the first African American and the first woman to lead the Fund. She joined the staff in 1988 as assistant to the director and was promoted to deputy director in 1992. She previously worked for 12 years as an education reporter, news editor, bureau chief, columnist and city editor at what was then Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Westchester County, New York.
Against the background of the pandemic this summer, the Fund was able to secure remote, or virtual, internships for almost all of the 78 interns it selected and provide additional financial support and mentoring. Forty-seven percent of the interns came from diverse backgrounds.
“I’ve enjoyed seeing the dividends the Fund has paid through the careers of professional journalists who are central to keeping our nation informed,” Ms. Shockley said.
When he informed the Fund’s board of directors of her plans to retire, Richard J. Levine, president of the Fund, said: “It is difficult to do justice to all the contributions Linda has made over her 32-year career with the Fund. . . .Her knowledge of the nation’s newsrooms, personnel and professional organizations is encyclopedic.”
Ms. Shockley has received several honors for her work including the Robert Knight Multicultural Recruitment Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication; the Gerald M. Sass Award for Distinguished Service from the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication; the Joseph M. Murphy Award and a Gold Key from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and the Pioneer Award from the National Scholastic Press Association.
The position has been posted and the selection process is underway
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