News Scores 5 Press Awards
The Norwood News took home the most first-place Ippies and won in five out of six editorial categories it was eligible for. "We started the Norwood News in 1988 to do exactly what these awards are recognizing us for," said publisher Dart Westphal. "We exist to provide vital local information to community residents and to hold those in government and other decision-making positions accountable for their actions in our communities." Editor Jordan Moss said the awards were important for recognition for the paper's hard work but also for bringing greater attention to issues too often ignored. "A year after the building fire that killed 8-year-old Jashawn Parker, there has been no official examination as to what went wrong in the city's housing inspection system or in Housing Court so that future tragedies can be prevented," Moss said. "We hope that these awards will also alert those in government that much more remains to be done." IPA-NY is an association of 90 ethnic and community newspapers in New York City. The awards were judged by an independent panel of journalists, including Village Voice reporter Wayne Barrett, Daily News editorial writer Carolina Gonzalez, and Deepa Fernandes of Free Speech Radio News. The awards coincide with the paper's 15th anniversary and its expansion into University Heights (the paper now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7). The Norwood News is published by Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC), a not-for-profit support corporation of Montefiore Medical Center. It began as a monthly covering one neighborhood and has been a bi-weekly since 1994. The paper now covers four neighborhoods with a circulation of 15,000. For Norwood News coverage going back five years, go to our archives. For more information on IPA-NY and a listing of all the award winners, visit www.indypressny.org.
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The Norwood News scored five first-place awards (known as "Ippies") at the Independent Press Association-New York's (IPA-NY) second annual awards dinner on Oct. 23. The paper won two first-place awards for its ongoing series of articles and editorials that began with a story about a boy who died in a building fire at 3569 DeKalb Ave, which had over 300 housing code violations. Since then,
Norwood News editor Jordan Moss and intern William Wichert have reported extensively on the connections of the landlord, Frank Palazzolo, to dozens of other neglected Bronx buildings, and the involvement of his associates in a scam to defraud the Jiggetts rent-relief program. 
The paper also won first-place prizes for a news article on the problems with the Department of Homeless Services' scatter-site housing program, a feature article on the borough's only Bangladeshi kindergarten at PS/MS 20, and a public service article on "Navigating the Middle School Maze." Reporter Heather Haddon was the recipient of these three
awards.