Best of the West
Journalism contest and grants program
| Results of past contests |
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The professional contest is recognized as the West's most prestigious. It began in 1988 and draws nearly 2,000 entries each year from journalists in the 13 states from the Rockies west to Alaska and Hawaii. The college contest began in 2005 and covers the same region.
The proceeds from the contests are used to help finance media hotlines that provide journalists with free, on-the-spot legal advice on public records and open meetings issues.
Best of the West has awarded more than $250,000 in grants to organizations in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. It provided all-important seed money to help four of those organizations get off the ground.
For its efforts to open up government records and meetings to the public, Best of the West won the Sunshine Award from the national Society of Professional Journalists in 1994 and the First Amendment Award from the society's Phoenix chapter in 1993.
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