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ATL Idol: How Week One Will Work

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 1:36 PM - By David Lat

ATL Idol Above the Law Idol AboveTheLaw Idol small.jpgYesterday we announced that the new editor of Above the Law will be picked by the readership, through a “reality blogging” competition called ATL Idol. We also introduced you to the six finalists.

The contest has received shout-outs from Dan Solove, over at Concurring Opinions, and Ann Althouse, over at Althouse (who is one of our celebrity judges — but NOT Paula, mind you). Please do what you can to spread the word. If more people vote in the contest, the result is more likely to be “accurate” (in terms of generating a deserving winner).

The tasks the bloggers will be asked to tackle will vary over the three weeks of the contest. Here’s an outline of what to expect this week.

In the first week of competition, the aspiring ATL Idols will write three posts (not counting yesterday’s short bios). Two are what we’re calling “freestyle” posts, but they’re not completely free. One must be a humorous, “___ of the Day” post — e.g., Lawyer, Lawsuit, or Judge of the Day — and one must be more serious or substantive.

The freestyle posts will be published today and Thursday. Contestants can choose the order in which to do the posts — e.g., humorous today and substantive on Thursday, or vice versa — but must do one of each during the week (i.e., not two humorous posts or two serious posts).

On Wednesday, we’re conducting what we’re calling a “head-to-head” round. We’ll publish the contestants’ different takes on the same story (actually, a pair of comparable stories — the contestants can choose). The head-to-head round is designed to show how the bloggers all tackle the same or similar stories, to eliminate any advantage one might derive from an extra-juicy set of facts.

The head-to-head round will be judged by ATL Idol’s distinguished panel of judges:

  • Ann Althouse, Robert W. & Irma M. Arthur-Bascom Professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, and author of her eponymous blog, Althouse;
  • Tom Goldstein, head of the D.C. litigation practice and co-head of the firm-wide Supreme Court practice at Akin Gump, and founder of SCOTUSblog; and
  • Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor of Slate (where she blogged at Convictions), author of two books, and a contributor to the New York Times and the Washington Post (among many other publications).

    On Thursday, we’ll publish the other half of the bloggers’ freestyle posts. Also on Thursday, the judges will write up their reviews of the head-to-head round, and send them in to us.

    On Friday, we will post the judges’ reviews of the bloggers. These expert reviews are designed to guide and inform the electorate. But just like on Idol, the people decide who stays and who goes. The opinions of the judges are merely advisory.

    Also on Friday, after posting the panel reviews, we will open the reader polls. The polls will be kept open over the weekend (exact closing time to be announced). The bottom two contestants will be eliminated, and the four remaining contestants will move on.

    So that’s what we have in store for you. The first of the freestyle posts will be going up this afternoon. Thanks for reading!

    Earlier: Welcome to… ATL Idol!
    ATL Idol: Meet the Finalists

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