Dolph Simons

Last updated
Dolph C. Simons Jr.
Born (1930-03-11) March 11, 1930 (age 94)
Occupation(s)Journalist, publisher, and media executive
AwardsKansas Newspaper Hall of Fame (2004)
Clyde M. Reed Jr. Master Editor Award (1997)
Notes
[1]

Dolph C. Simons Jr. (born 1930) is an American journalist, publisher, and media executive. He is best known for his work with the Lawrence Journal-World and the World Company. A respected figure in the Kansas newspaper industry, Simons has received numerous accolades, including induction into the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Clyde M. Reed Jr. Master Editor Award in 1997.

Contents

Early life and education

Dolph C. Simons Jr. was born into a family with a long history in the newspaper business. [2] His grandfather, W.C. Simons, founded the World Company in 1891. His father, Dolph C. Simons Sr., was a prominent newspaperman. [3] He attended Lawrence High School and later graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Kansas in 1951. [1]

Military service

During his senior year at the University of Kansas, Simons enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. For several years, he played football for the Marine Corps team at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Upon his discharge in 1953, he held the rank of Captain. [1]

Career

After completing his education and military service, Simons worked as a journalist at The Times in London and the The Star in Johannesburg, South Africa. [4] He then returned to his family's newspaper business in Lawrence, working in various capacities at the World Company and the Lawrence Journal-World. He eventually became the editor of the Journal-World and, later, its publisher. Under his leadership, the newspaper was firmly committed to community journalism and local news coverage. [5]

In 1979, Allen Neuharth sought distributors for a new daily national newspaper called USA Today. Simons Jr. told Neuharth, "If you want to have a print site in the middle of the U.S., I'd love to have a shot at it". The newspaper page design was done in northern Virginia and sent via satellite at 10:30 PM to Lawrence to be distributed each morning from Des Moines, Iowa to Oklahoma. [4]

Simons Jr. also served in numerous leadership roles within the Kansas newspaper industry. He was a member of the Kansas Press Association's board of directors and was president from 1975 to 1976. Additionally, he was a member of the Inland Press Association [6] and the American Newspaper Publishers Association. [1]

Throughout his career, Simons Jr. received several awards for his contributions to journalism. In 2001, he was honored with the Clyde M. Reed Jr. Master Editor Award, which recognizes outstanding service to the newspaper profession. [7] In 2004, he was inducted into the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame, [8] cementing his status as a leading figure in the state's newspaper industry.

Personal life

Dolph C. Simons Jr. is married and has four children. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James E. Gunn</span> American science fiction author (1923–2020)

James Edwin Gunn was an American science fiction writer, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work as an editor of anthologies includes the six-volume Road to Science Fiction series. He won the Hugo Award for "Best Related Work" in 1983 and he won or was nominated for several other awards for his non-fiction works in the field of science fiction studies. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America made him its 24th Grand Master in 2007, and he was inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2015. His novel The Immortals was adapted into a 1970–71 TV series starring Christopher George.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Neuharth</span> American businessman (1924-2013)

Allen Harold "Al" Neuharth was an American businessman, author, and columnist born in Eureka, South Dakota. He was the founder of USA Today, The Freedom Forum, and its Newseum.

<i>Pensacola News Journal</i> Newspaper in Florida

The Pensacola News Journal is a daily morning newspaper serving Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida. It is Northwest Florida's most widely read daily.

<i>Courier Journal</i> American daily newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky

The Courier Journal, also known as the Louisville Courier Journal, and called The Courier-Journal between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in Louisville, Kentucky and owned by Gannett, which bills it as "Part of the USA Today Network".

<i>The Wichita Eagle</i> Newspaper in Wichita, Kansas, U.S.

The Wichita Eagle is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Originating in the early 1870s, shortly after the city's founding, it is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surrounding area.

<i>New York Journal-American</i> Newspaper published in New York from 1937 to 1966

The New York Journal-American was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 to 1966. The Journal-American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: the New York American, a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper. Both were published by Hearst from 1895 to 1937. The American and Evening Journal merged in 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Hunt</span> American journalist

Albert Reinold Hunt Jr. is an American journalist, formerly a columnist for Bloomberg View, the editorial arm of Bloomberg News. Hunt hosted the Sunday morning talk show Political Capital on Bloomberg Television and was also a weekly panelist on CNN's Capital Gang and Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields. For decades, he worked in the Washington, D.C. bureau, reporting for the Wall Street Journal.

The Topeka Capital-Journal is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas, owned by Gannett.

The Lawrence Journal-World is a daily newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, by Ogden Newspapers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media</span>

The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media is a nationally accredited professional undergraduate and graduate level journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The school, founded in 1950, is ranked competitively among the best journalism schools in the United States. The school offers undergraduate degrees in media & journalism as well as advertising & public relations. It offers master's degrees in journalism, strategic communication, and visual communication and doctoral degrees in media & communication.

The Freedom Forum is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) foundation dedicated to fostering First Amendment freedoms for all. The organization advances First Amendment freedoms through programs that include Today's Front Pages, the Power Shift Project, the annual Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference for high school juniors, annual First Amendment Festival, Free Expression Awards and other conferences. Freedom Forum operated the Newseum in Washington, D.C. until 2019, when it sold the building to Johns Hopkins University.

Rich Clarkson is a Denver, Colorado based photographer that has a long history covering American sports. Rich owns a production company, Clarkson Creative, that specializes in photography, video production, design, and book publishing among other things. In addition, his company has organized the top-tier photography educational workshops, Summit Series of Photography Workshops, for over 30 years. The small group also handles all championship photography for the NCAA and Colorado Rockies baseball club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lawrence Jr.</span> American newspaper editor

David Lawrence Jr. is an American nationally known newspaper editor and publisher who retired at the age of 56 and subsequently became a leading national advocate for children, especially in the area of early childhood investment. He is the former publisher of the Miami Herald and the Detroit Free Press. He currently serves as chair of the Children's Movement of Florida.

The Fort Scott Tribune is a daily newspaper serving Fort Scott, Kansas, United States. It has been owned by Rust Communications since 2004.

The Native American Journalists Association is an organization dedicated to supporting Native Americans in journalism. The organization hosts the annual National Native Media Awards. It was launched from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reed Sarratt</span> American journalist

Reed Sarratt (1917-1986) was an American journalist and editor from North Carolina. He wrote about school desegregation in the Southern United States. He served as the executive director of the Southern Education Reporting Service from 1960 to 1965, and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association from 1973 to 1986.

John Collins Quinn was an American journalist and the former president of Gannett Company, and former editor-in-chief of USA Today.

Allen Webster “Web” Hawkins was newspaper editor-publisher and local community advocate. He began his career at 16 years old working as a printer’s devil at St. Francois County Journal earning $1.50 a week. Along with his wife Gladys Ann (Shmitty) Schmidt, Web purchased and published The Osawatomie Graphic (News). The couple acquired other journals including The Linn County News; Louisburg Herald; and The Emporia Times. The couple also had partial ownership in: The Hillsboro Star-Journal and The Herington Times. Hawkins presided over the National Newspaper Association and Kansas Press Association. He is enshrined in the Kansas Press Association's Newspaper Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter E. Hussman Jr.</span>

Walter Edward Hussman Jr., is an American newspaper publisher and chairman of WEHCO Media, Inc. He is the publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock, which is the largest newspaper in Arkansas. Hussman directs a chain of smaller newspapers, including the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Texarkana Gazette, and owns cable television companies in four states.

The Oklahoma Eagle is a Tulsa-based Black-owned newspaper published by James O. Goodwin. Established in 1922, it has been called the voice of Black Tulsa and is a successor to the Tulsa Star newspaper, which burned in the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. The Oklahoma Eagle publishes news about the Black community and reported on the 1921 Tulsa race massacre at a time when many white-owned newspapers in Tulsa refused to acknowledge it. TheOklahoma Eagle is also Oklahoma's longest-running Black-owned newspaper. The Oklahoma Eagle serves a print subscriber base throughout six Northeastern Oklahoma counties, statewide, in 36 U.S. states and territories, and abroad. It claims that it is the tenth oldest Black-owned newspaper in the United States still publishing today.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Simons, Dolph C. Jr". Kansas Press Association. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  2. ↑ O, Timothy L. (2005-06-26). "The Newspaper of the Future". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  3. ↑ "Simons Family". The Kansas Historical Society. 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  4. 1 2 Wilson, Ron (2013-01-01). "Dolph Simons, Jr. – Lawrence Journal-World" (PDF). Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  5. ↑ Folkenflik, David (2005-04-14). "Watchful Eyes on Kansas Media Innovations". WMFV . NPR . Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  6. ↑ Mendes, Adolfo (2011-10-19). "Dolph C. Simons Jr. honored for newspaper service". Craig Press. Swift Communications . Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  7. ↑ "Clyde M. Reed Jr. Master Editor Award" (PDF). Kansas Press Association. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  8. ↑ "Hall of Fame". Kansas Press Association. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.