ATL Idol: Congratulations to Your New Editor!
Apologies for the delay. We had to wait for Vizu to certify the poll results as anomaly-free, which they just did.
Congratulations to the winner of our ATL Idol “reality blogging” competition, who will become Above the Law’s new editor-in-chief: SOPHIST!!! With almost 1900 votes cast, SOPHIST (avatar at right) prevailed over your other finalist, FROLIC AND DETOUR, by a 60-40 margin.
In a subsequent post, Sophist will introduce himself to the readership in more detail. The handover of day-to-day editorial duties will take place sometime later this month.
Based on some of your comments, we’d like to clarify two things.
First, we will continue to write for Above the Law and to play an active role in its development. As reported in the Legal Times and FishbowlNY, among other places, we’re moving into the position of Managing Editor for Breaking Media, ATL’s parent company. Part of our new job includes overseeing Above the Law. So we’ll be working closely with Sophist to take Above the Law to ever greater heights (or lows, as appropriate). We will continue to blog for ATL, perhaps in a column of some sort, as well as on other occasions (e.g., coverage of events we attend; additional support during busy news periods; filling in for Sophist when he goes on vacation).
Second, your faithful Associate Editor, Kashmir Hill, will also still write for the site. Although she did not wish to be considered for the EIC position — for more on why, see her personal blog — she will remain as an active presence here. The same is true of ATL’s other contributors, including our surveys guru, Justin Bernold, and our Legal Eagle Wedding Watcher, Laurie Lin. Many of the things you enjoy about ATL will remain unchanged.
As we previously mentioned, the ATL Idol contest was a huge hit here at ATL, by a variety of measures (including traffic / pageviews, reader comments, and revenue). We thank our six finalists for their excellent efforts, as well as everyone else who expressed interest in the position; our three guest judges, Ann Althouse, Tom Goldstein, and Dahlia Lithwick; and you, our readers, who enlivened the contest with your commentary — and who picked the winner, with your votes.
Once again, congratulations to SOPHIST. He survived three weeks of grueling guest blogging, including tough love from the celebrity judges, hard knocks from the commenters, and formidable competition from the other finalists. He is clearly ready for the challenge of taking ATL into a new and even more glorious era. (And since you picked him, you are estopped from criticizing him in the comments.)
Please extend a warm welcome to SOPHIST — and to Above the Law 2.0!
Earlier: Prior ATL Idol coverage (scroll down)
(84) Comments
Comments
Note to self: discontinue readership.
Boy, almost 2,000 votes total for the final round, huh? The enthusiasm is palpable.
This competition may have given you a temporary traffic spike. If that was the goal, congratulations. Now watch as the site's traffic craters over the next couple months, and your big sponsors drop you.
first to say probably not first by the time i hit "post"
hey, remember when ATL was a good blog, non-political, and had great gossip?
first to say probably not first by the time i hit "post"
These pretzels are making me THIRDSTY!
Sophist has not been publicly identified, pending notification of next-of-kin :).
Yeah, 4, that's another thing. Bring in anti-tax morons who can't even get their numbers straight to savage Obama is a sure way to drive up traffic numbers among law school students and BigLaw associates. Or...is it?
4, No i don't remember that. I remember the blog as having delved into political topics from the beginning, though people always seemed to have a hard time agreeing what the slant was. Some people accused Lat of being some sort of Federalist Society troll, while others were disgusted by the praise he heaped on Hillary Clinton as a "diva" and former "litigatrix"
Hope Winters > Sophist > Death > Ted Frank.
Unless of course Sophist = Ted Frank.
If so, then death > Sophist (dba Ted Frank.)
Can't believe that Kash isn't the new EIC. She would be far, far better than a tool who calls himself Sophist, not to mention far, far more attractive...
Now, if we could just decide the next POTUS with a Vizu poll.....
Let the ATL Haters Ball 2008 Begin!
Hate-Hate-Hate-Hate!!
Dear 11:
How can you be sure that Sophist is not a woman--let alone not "attractive"?
Just saying.
Yay Sophist, best person for the job
Good try with the estoppel argument, Lat!
(Please do not go!)
13, good job on the Chapelle show shout out.
As far as ATL going down the drain, I think its just that after reading this blog for a year or so you get tired of it and the people who pretend everything is TTT compared to them.
can't wait for to see what sophist really brings to the table..
6: The reference is so good, I can forgive the miss.
I am cautiously optimistic. He was the only contestant who looked like he could handle the job. I'm glad the process worked.
Congrats Sophist! I was a huge fan (except for Week 1 -- but everyone gets one week to screw up).
Hope you fare better than your avatar as you "try to take over the world [of ATL]."
This could work out okay...stay on top of him, David!
13,
We're all idiots. ATL Idol was a huge success because our hatred translated in to thousands of posts and even thousands of more page views.
The post by Ted Frank (dba America's Next Great Douchebag) is clearly an attempt to continue the site traffic.
Lat's motivations are clear from this comment alone: "They generated over 900 comments and thousands of pageviews."
Get us all in to a tizzy and watch the ad revenue spike. Now, this will work for a while from the dead enders (about 40% of ATL traffic) that was anti-Sophist (including the Marinheads, Arnie Beckerites, Frolic and Detouronomies, as well as the Alexolites.)
The dead-enders will ravage him in the comments until they grow tired and move on. Eventually, the Sophisticates will grow tired of their selection. And soon, the comments section will flow with blood of Sophist.
What happens to this site? It becomes the preserve of knuckle-dragging wonders like Ted Frank.
ATL to ATTTL.
14, we can assume that Sophist is of the male persuasion based on what Lat (who presumably knows who Sophist really is) has written: "Sophist will introduce HIMSELF to the readership in more detail. "
On the other hand, Article III Groupie presented herself as a woman, but turned out to be Lat. So yeah, you never know.
I gotta say: I really loved a couple of his posts. The Lat-Sophist tagteam might work out nicely. The guy is funny. Let's just see if he can handle the rigors of the job.
When do we learn who Sophist really is?
Nice job so far Sophist, looking forward to ATL 2.0.
Let's hope Sophist is a little more progressive in his politics!
Dear 8/9:
Remember this post?
“Candidates As Academics: 'I Got A Crush On Professor Named Obama'
From a politically-minded tipster:
“Can we get a thread to find out how Barack Obama was as a law professor at Chicago? It would be perfect for the election season. Not to mention that I really want to know what he was like in the classroom.”
http://www.abovethelaw.com/2008/02/candidates_as_academics.php
I seem to recall other posts that could be construed as pro-Obama, as well as an equal number of commenters complaining about the “liberal bias” of this blog.
How much does EIC pay?
I was bitchy before, but I did like the Sophist the best. Good luck, Sophist. Don't eff up.
60-40 is a pretty nice mandate. Clearly, we are getting the best of the bunch. I just hope he's not afraid to make a few changes while managing to keep giving me what I like.
29: Which are a better fit to ATL's reader demographics (law school students, big firm lawyers living in big cities, young people involved in law generally). Promise you that ATL's readership is predominantly liberal, even if its commentariat isn't.
But that sort of misses the point. If your hook/niche is BigLaw gossip and sympathy for people on a certain career path, shoehorning in some political commentary is counterproductive. There are about a billion political blogs out there, and most of them provide better analysis than Ted "Just Some Back of the Napkin, Totally Made Up Numbers About Obama's Tax Plan" Frank. So you won't be drawing readers with your political stuff, whichever side it takes. Meanwhile, you are alienating the readers who disagree with the crap you're putting up, and maybe causing them to stop visiting. So it's just a dumb business move all around.
-8
29, yes, you are correct, Lat has certainly put up quite a few pro-Democratic posts. He has said complimentary things about Obama. He has said even more complimentary things about Hillary, his favorite "senatrix" and Capitol Hill "diva." Many commenters complained about his supposedly liberal bias, to which others responded with bizarre conspiracy theories to the effect that his posts in favor of Hillary were actually somehow secretly intended to undermine her candidacy.
Looking forward to finding out who you really are, Sophist. Keep up the good work or, you know, we'll kill you.
ATL Idol has this site looking like Afghanistan - Bombed out and depleted...
Please block any IP address linked to F&D...
And Sophist better have a HUGE appetite to eat some s--- from the commenters...
Dear 33:
It seems to me that the $160K + bonus crowd (and those who aspire to same) might have some interest in a debate about how Obama's tax policies might affect their bottom line.
Especially since a President Obama would most likely have the (Democratic majority) congressional votes to make those tax policies law.
Just a thought.
23 = Comment of the day.
I'm a little biased considering that I wrote 23. Oh well.
WAIT -- Kash has a PERSONAL BLOG???!!! Lat, you need to shut down the site immediately as it's undoubtedly been overrun by "Kashheads."
37: Nonetheless, BigLaw associates are young, highly-educated, urbanites. They're disproportionately pro-Obama, and people don't like to have their preconceived opinions attacked in venues they look to for entertainment. BigLaw donations, as I'm sure you're aware, are mostly to Democrats, including Obama.
Some people vote on factors other than short-term personal greed. I know that's pretty wild to you, but there it is.
-8
39: Jesus fucking Christ, we dumped your candidate two goddamn weeks ago. Get the fuck out, you fucking Marinhead.
Sophist, you suck. (but you're capable of improvement).
8/40:
Then how do you explain the 200+ comments generated by Ted Frank's post?
Don't the chosen (small "t", small "c") also look to this site for information affecting their incomes as well as for “entertainment”?
Think you hit the nail on the head with certain commenters who "don't like to have their preconceived opinions" challenged, though.
PS: To Sophist: This might not be the best time to mention your Federalist Society membership.
Will SEN still be blogging for ATL?
Sophist, don't suck. Actually, I get the feeling you won't. I hope I am right.
43: A lot of those comments were ATL business as usual, viciously attacking the poster and pointing out all the problems with his numbers. You may see that as an indicator of high interest, possibly correlated with better traffic numbers. I see it as an indication that people will talk about politics forever, especially in small groups. Any political blog has this phenomenon on full display, as a couple of commenters, or a small handful, snipe back and forth at one another for pages. That doesn't mean casual readers who rarely comment aren't annoyed, nor that they will return to ATL with the same frequency in the future.
Do we think Sophist is celebrating by "furiously licking his balls?"
Ha! That was one of his best lines.
Game over. It was fun while it lasted.
Lat has gone corporate. I hope Sophist can take over for him. From what I saw (which was only about half of the posts,) he did a pretty good job.
i hate being a lawyer too but i can't live on $28,000 a year...good luck sophist
You're not estopped from criticizing sophist, but if you do, 1900 people disagree with you, so stfu
Is Sophist's identity supposed to be a secret? The links on his introductory post said he was Elie Mystal, a former Debevoise associate.
52: Not 1900 for Sophist, 1900 total. And actually, 1872. So about 1121 people disagree with you, and 751 people agree. So only 370 net people disagree with criticism of Sophist, based on these poll results. Not quite as impressive as 1900.
24: you mean lat isn't a woman?
No, I actually met Lat at a party when he lived in DC, and he had an Adam's apple and everything.
"He's a man, baby."
-24
Dear 54:
"Net people"?
Based on 1900 votes @60%, 1140 voters prefer Sophist.
Not quite as unimpressive as 350.
Nor do the 40% who voted for F & D necessarily think that Sophist was not highly qualified, the undersigned included.
--Frolic voter who also likes Sophist
PS to #55:
Kindly define "and everything."
He had some five o'clock shadow. I didn't investigate "and everything" beyond that, and do not intend to do so.
-55
OK, because HAD you done so, my next question was going to be kindly define "party" :).
8/33/40
I do agree with you that I would not want to see ATL turn into just another political blog. If I want to read what the Right says, I check out WSJ.com and the like; for the left, HuffPo et al. I come here for fun, and don't want to see the political battles played out here too.
But if the site is just bringing in Ted Frank once every six months or so, I don't think we are in too much danger of that. Lat claims the prior Frank posts generated a lot of traffic and don't seem to have turned off the readers.
OK: hi, Sophist.
Now to the real issue: Ted Frank is an irritating weak-sauce shill. Since Lat seems determined to wring "comments and page views" at the expense of long-term readership, I guess I will have to vote by refusing to click on any Ted Frank thread. I advise everyone else who can't stand him to do the same. If you must lash out at him, find his own blog, and comment there.
For some reason, I feel the need to save ATL from Lat's bad tactical decision. Some homework, David: How did Salon make out after deliberately provoking its readership 24/7 during the Dem primary. Not so good, huh? But they sure had a spike for a coupla weeks there.
52/54/57: Um, a lot of people may have voted for Sophist because they thought he would be the best of the bunch--and not that he was the best (or even that he would be better than Lat).
I have never ONCE clicked an advertiser's link from ATL, so I guess I'm a freeloader. Eat that, advertisers! So much for traffic-related ad revenue. (nor could I even tell you what/who they are, so the argument that they permeate my subconscious won't work either).
Why, oh why, out of all of the comment boards on the entire interwebs, is this site the absolute worst when it comes to responsiveness of posting comments.
I mean, if I hit post, the screen just freezes....seemingly forever, thus prompting people to hit post more than once. But I know it posted even though I already hit post, so I shouldn't have to hit post again....yet people do, which causes multiple posts of the same worthless comment!
Why, oh why, out of all of the comment boards on the entire interwebs, is this site the absolute worst when it comes to responsiveness of posting comments.
I mean, if I hit post, the screen just freezes....seemingly forever, thus prompting people to hit post more than once. But I know it posted even though I already hit post, so I shouldn't have to hit post again....yet people do, which causes multiple posts of the same worthless comment!
Why, oh why, out of all of the comment boards on the entire interwebs, is this site the absolute worst when it comes to responsiveness of posting comments.
I mean, if I hit post, the screen just freezes....seemingly forever, thus prompting people to hit post more than once. But I know it posted even though I already hit post, so I shouldn't have to hit post again....yet people do, which causes multiple posts of the same worthless comment!
"But if the site is just bringing in Ted Frank once every six months or so, "
seems like he's been linked three or four times in the past week, inclusive of this post.
"It seems to me that the $160K + bonus crowd (and those who aspire to same) might have some interest in a debate about how Obama's tax policies might affect their bottom line."
It seems to me, from your phrasing, that this crowd does not include you. So let me enlighten you: the very accomplishments that allowed us to become part of the "160K + bonus crowd" means we are educated enough to understand that "bottom line" taxes are not the only way in which the economic (and other) policies of the president can affect our standard of living. And we're bright enough to spot bullshit from a fourth-string arm of the vast, right wing FedSocracy when we see it.
mmm... Firefox + AdBlock Plus = never see any ads on ATL. Or almost anywhere else.
SEVENTIETH!
WOOHOO!
I CAN'T BELIEVE I FINALLY MADE IT!!!! SEVENTIES!!
SEVENTY McSEVENTIES
-Congrats Sophist!!!
-And God*amn, lawyers and law students are the most negative people around. Seriously, some of these haters need to get laid, big time, and then perhaps they wouldn't be so uptight and cranky. I'm not joking, sex does wonders.
-Sophist, I'll be 100% in your corner until you F-up like a dozen times, which is unlikely to happen, so rock on Sophist!
RRAAWWRR!!!
WE HATE SOPHIST.
AND CWUCIFY HIM AS WELL!
Dear 68:
You are correct, “genius”, I do not draw a salary. I am one of those self employed people with a household income well above $250K who Barack Obama is going to cost another $100,000 a year or more (if I sell an asset subject to the capital gains tax).
In addition, your ad hominem argument (if you want to even call it an argument) is not going to get you very far in life or the law. Nor is bragging about your educational accomplishments or asserting that you are better equipped to assess Barack Obama’s policies than the rest of us anything short of ridiculous and distasteful.
Moreover, the assumption that the readers of this site would find it helpful and germane to consider the impact that Obama tax policies might have on their bottom line is not "bullshit".
Call me after you attain a high six-figure income and are paying a couple of mortgages, and we will see whether you feel the same way. Until then, you have not earned the right to dismiss my point of view.
Finally, taxing the self employed and the entrepreneurs to death is not going to enhance your standard of living (or the economy). Rather, it is going to tank both.
I don't understand all the comlaining. This is the same process that I used to find a job, a wife and a child. It has to work for a mildly amusing legal blog.
If it works for me, it can work for you (money back offer does not apply in Wyoming)
"Promise you that ATL's readership is predominantly liberal, even if its commentariat isn't."
You can't possibly promise that, and you haven't met many law school students or biglaw lawyers if you actually believe it. Most are not especially bright or open-minded.
Above the Law is below my sweaty nut-sack.
I for one welcome our new mouse overlords.
I would like to be a fly on the wall when Sophist tells the managing partners at his firm that he is quitting to edit this blog. (I assume that is the hold up in announcing his identity.)
THANK GOD OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE IS OVER! What an annoying waste of space this stupid contest has been.
Totally agree with 78. I wonder how he'll break the news. Some suggestions:
The Cartman: "Screw you guys, I'm going blog!"
The Half Baked: "F**k you! F**k you! F**k you! YOU'RE COOL. "F**k you! I'm out.
The Jerry McGuire: *Wherein he grabs a goldfish and asks, "Who's coming with me?!?"
Lat,
Any chump can "[move] into the position of Managing Editor for Breaking Media, ATL's parent company." You however, are superstar blogger, much like Kobe Bryant is a superstar basketball player. Promoting Kobe to GM because he is great at basketball doesn't help the Lakers win a championship, it actually makes winning that championship almost impossible. So in the same way the Lakers need Kobe on the floor to win games, Breaking Media needs you editing ATL attract readers.
Sophist is Elie Mystal. He has a Facebook page.
And now the shocking truth: Sophist actually looks somewhat like his avatar.
"Lat has certainly put up quite a few pro-Democratic posts."
No he hasn't. Why do conservative always have to resort to bald-face lying?