In order to disable magic quotes the following solution worked for me on a shared hosting account.  If you are having an issue with Magic Quotes on your shared hosting account please try the following.

In your joomla folder create a file called php.ini

NOTE:
1A: If your site is example www.joomlage.com then the folder to place the file in would be public_html
1B: If your site is installed in a folder example www.joomlage.com/joomla-templates then the folder to place the file in would be public_html/joomla-templates

Add the following lines to the php.ini file
magic_quotes_gpc = Off
magic_quotes_runtime = Off
magic_quotes_sybase = Off
extension=pdo.so
extension=pdo_mysql.so

Now in the same folder you should see a .htaccess file. Open it and add the following line to the top of the file. You will need to edit the user part to the correct path to your site. If you do not know what it is please contact your host and ask them.
SetEnv PHPRC /home/user/public_html/php.ini

If successful then Magic Quotes should now be turned off. If this solution did not work for you your host may have another one or you can check out some more here. How to turn off magic quotes on shared hosting?