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Best of the West The Best of the West contest is designed to reward journalistic excellence and to promote freedom of information. It is administered by First Amendment Funding Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. The contest is recognized as the West's most prestigious. It began in 1988 and draws more than 2,000 entries each year from journalists in the 13 states from the Rockies west to Alaska and Hawaii. The proceeds from the contest 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 $200,000 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 and the First Amendment Award from the society's Phoenix chapter. Best of the West is offering grants to groups interested in forming or already operating media hotlines in the West. Grants are awarded each February. For more information and grant application forms, write to: Grants, First Amendment Funding Inc., P.O. Box 13367, Phoenix, AZ 85002.