In 1998, four years after I became editor of the Norwood News, I was staying at a bed-and-breakfast in Kingston, NY. After introducing myself to another guest at breakfast, l told him where I worked. He laughed and told me he previously worked at the School Construction Authority (SCA), which was then independent of the Board of Education. “We used to fear getting that paper in the mail every time it came out!” he said.

For more than two years, the Norwood News had highlighted the rash of problems and delays in completing PS 20 on Webster Avenue and later PS 15 on Andrews Avenue — two badly needed schools in vastly overcrowded District 10. We submitted Freedom of Information Law requests that uncovered problems in the laying of the foundation at PS 20, and for quite a while ran a countdown clock on the front page counting the days until the latest scheduled completion date.

The school eventually got built and has been serving local residents for almost 15 years, as has PS 15. Our coverage resulted in other newspapers highlighting the SCA’s problems and led to local residents organizing and putting pressure on the agency. The SCA finished the next batch of local schools and additions on time and got its act together.

This is only one example of the critical role community journalism can play and has played in this part of the Bronx. It’s why hyper-local news is so important. There are dozens of TV, radio stations and newspapers that focus on citywide, statewide and national issues, and they occasionally touch down in our northwest Bronx neighborhoods. But only good community papers are dedicated to relentlessly covering issues that so directly affect residents.

Newspapers like this one, by being so familiar with the operation of, and players in, the local civic machinery, can hold government and its representatives accountable and make sure that our communities receive our fair share of taxpayer-generated resources.

Being able to have this kind of impact by editing a newspaper that gave our neighborhoods, too often neglected by decision makers, a voice is why I came to work every day.

The week of Aug. 29 was my last at the Norwood News. I’m grateful to have been able to spend the last 17 years (and two years before that as a freelancer) doing this work. I want to thank everyone who works, and worked, at Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC) — including former executive director Dart Westphal, who hired me — for their incredible commitment and hard work, without which publishing the paper would be impossible. MPC, a nonprofit support corporation of Montefiore Medical Center, is a rare nonprofit organization that publishes a real community newspaper widely respected by its readers.

I also want to thank all those in the community who answered my questions again and again, alerted me to news, and took the time to teach me about issues they are experts in. And, needless to say, the paper would not exist without the support of its advertisers.

I’m happy to pass the torch to longtime managing editor Alex Kratz. This work will continue in his capable hands.

I expect to continue being a journalist largely focused on the Bronx. I’ll let you know where I end up when I get there.

In the meantime, keep reading, sharing your stories and standing up for your neighborhood. The most important thing I’ve learned is that your participation, amplified by coverage in your community newspaper, matters — big time.

Editor’s note: Jordan Moss was editor-in-chief of the Norwood News from 1994 until Aug. 29 2011. He can be reached at jordanmoss.bx @gmail.com.