There are only a handful of nonprofit community newspapers like this one in the country.

Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC) created it almost 20 years ago for two reasons: there wasn’t one, and neighborhood residents and businesses had no way to communicate. The biggest ingredient to its success has been independence. Other community organizations and institutions publish newspapers or newsletters, but more often than not they carry the agenda of the organization, not the community.

One of the paper’s biggest champions is Montefiore Medical Center President Spencer Foreman, MD, who, in addition to running one of the largest academic medical centers in the country, finds the time to be an active board member of MPC, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore.

Obviously, he could influence the paper’s coverage if he wanted to. But he understands that if it weren’t independent, the paper would never be respected in the community and couldn’t play the positive role it does in local civic life.

In an interview for MPC’s 25th anniversary publication last summer, Foreman explained his thoughts about the paper this way:

“We don’t exercise any editorial control over that paper; that paper should be a community paper, and it should be driven by its own internal imperative. But I believe that as long as that paper exists, it’s a better community.”

Dr. Foreman’s philosophy has an extraordinary influence that readers would not be able to detect. This is why we’re telling you now that the Norwood News wouldn’t have lasted nearly 20 years without Dr. Foreman’s support and encouragement.

Dr. Foreman is retiring from Montefiore within the next year after two decades at the helm. He leaves behind not only a bigger and better medical center with strong roots in the community, but also the robust newspaper you hold in your hands.