ATL Idol: Time to Vote! (Final Round)
The three weeks of guest blogging by the talented contestants of ATL Idol have all come down to this: a final showdown between SOPHIST and FROLIC AND DETOUR. The winner will become the next editor of Above the Law.
In case you're curious, the ATL Idol contest has been awesome for ATL. July, the month in which it launched, was our best ever (in terms of traffic and revenue). And if the second half of this month is as strong as the first, August will surpass it. A few commenters haven't been fans of the competition. But by all the standard metrics, it has been a smashing success -- thanks to our contestants, our guest judges, and you, our readers.
Before we open the polls, a methodological note. Like the Supreme Court in Reynolds v. Sims, we believe in the principle of "one person, one vote." Please vote only once (and refrain from casting multiple votes using bots, scripts, and other things that aren't human).
There have been allegations of multiple voting in prior rounds. Unlike the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, we're not inclined to wade into electoral messes after the fact; what's past is past.
But because the stakes are higher for this final round, we're asking Vizu, host of the poll, to review the results for possible improprieties. We won't announce the winner until after we receive the results of their analysis. Suspicious votes -- including, but not limited to, hundreds of votes from the same IP address -- will not be counted.
Enough lawyerly caveats; time to vote. Voting will end on MONDAY, AUGUST 18, at noon (Eastern time). GOOD LUCK!!!
Earlier: Prior ATL Idol coverage (scroll down)
(107) 
After slogging through every post... verdict is.... Sophist
1st
I vote F&D. She's more unpredicatable and with experience, the straigth reporting will improve. She's smart enough to do it, that's clear.
The tips will always come in (Lat isn't doing any independent investigating, people) because people are natural tattle-tales and want to feel important.
The site will continue. The comments drive the site anyway, and we all enjoy playing here.
How about a third option:
Dismantle the Site
3 - I'll take predictably decent (Sophist) over unpredictably bad (F&D) any day.
4- did you hear Lat? this was profitable for the site... the winner will be taking over no matter what we say
They're both roughly equal. Why don't you hire both of them and get rid of Lateral Link or the Asia Chronicles.
1:08(2) - Because then they couldn't pay their salaries.
Lateral Link, Kinney, Mestel, etc. make ATL possible.
3- how does unpredictable=good EIC??? that's just foolish. I'm voting for the most consistent and funny writer... I'll give you a hint, it sure ain't F&D
Not voting because this is so stupid. Both idiots are 2x Harvard and have essentially stunk it up among a pool of amazingly bad competition. This blog is heading into the toilet. Lat, enjoy the huge revenue boost from July/August. Then enjoy the dropoff as readers wise up and head to WSJ law blog.
It's difficult to actually read all the posts and still consider voting F&D.
9: if I read the same, predictable take on a story that I could read from another news source with only a little more humor, I'm just not that entertained. I want a twist. An unpredicatable twist. A totem pole.
Sophist is very good.
But he's no HOPE WINTERS.
10-- that just means you are leaving the decision up to whichever candidate has more outside friends to vote. I think that the actual readers deserve a say in who is the next EIC...
They both suck and should probably just go tackle a bus or coat themselves in bbq sauce and wait outside Halverson house until she gets a whiff, goes outside and eats them.
12 -- if you want to read about totem poles, ATL is not the site for you. most people come here to read about biglaw
LAT: "July, the month in which [ATL Idol] launched, was our best ever (in terms of traffic and revenue). And if the second half of this month is as strong as the first, August will surpass it."
TRANSLATION: "Commenters, suck it."
"Or go ahead, keep bashing ATL. Every comment = Another pageview we can sell to our advertisers."
12: I think the angle you are looking for is a retarded twist. Which, hey, is your prerogative
They both suck, in comparison to Lat and Kash.
I generally like to vote for people who are reliable rather than unpredictable. It feels a lot less like I'm throwing my vote away.
biglaw < totem poles
I'm worried that if I vote for Sophist I won't get weekly updates on the shame pole, and I'll never know how the Exxon case turns out. But I guess it's a risk I'm willing to take. I vote SOPHIST!
3rd vote: we don't care
I was actually undecided until I saw Althouse declare F&D the winner. Now I know Sophist is the better choice.
1:17 - WSJ law blog has not been the same since Peter Lattman left. :-(
ATL Commenters = a bunch of middle-aged haters.
24 -- totally agree. no way am i voting for althouse's choice.
I am sticking to my guns and not voting---no matter who wins this blog is soon to be a FTT(and the f is no typo)
I think this is the point in the competition where we are supposed to do the SURPRISE ONE CONTESTANT RETURNS sort of thing, and bring back Exley.
Then I think we should have tryouts ala The Dark Knight.
I'm going to miss Lat.
Sophist has been better over time:
Week 1: Sophist = 2 (behind Marin), F&D = 4 (barely got out)
Week 2: Sophist = 1, F&D = 2
Vote SOPHIST.
28-- I'm with Diddy on this one VOTE or DIE. Or letidiots make the decision for you...
"Voting will end on MONDAY, AUGUST 18, at noon (Eastern time)."
Us caring ended about three weeks ago.
Lat -- You should call up your advertisers and tell them to encourage their employees to vote for Sophist. If F&D pulls off an upset, your readership is going to plummet.
Sophist has consistently been the strongest-- it looked like F&D didn't even finish her feature yesterday. This is a no brainer.
Did most of us who voted for F&D last week do that only to get rid of Marin? Let's just end this already. We know Sophist is the best.
If Sophist is best and most reflective of the readership, he will win. If he doesn't win, F&D is the most reflective candidate. The site will continue. Relax.
And then there were two possible finalists. But much to everyone's suprise, a new third candidate enters. Stay tuned to find out more...
-Hope Winters
Sophist
37, care to explain how you reach that ridiculous conclusion? Or better yet, don't.
32 -
"Shake them titties when you vote, bitch!"
Comedy.
Dear David Lat:
Please contact me and send me the EIC offer package. I am well versed in law and business as demonstrated in my three elite Harvard degrees.
3eliteharvardeg2008@gmail.com
-Harvard: BA, JD, MBA
It is time for the silent majority to vote.
Why should 2,000 readers out of a hundred thousand decide the next EIC?
F & D has a shot, but its time to email your colleagues and encourage them to vote.
Let's see 5,000 (non-duplicative) votes in the final round!
If I do not receive the offer package, I demand to be a write-on candidate. The voice of the (little) people must be heard!
-Harvard: BA, JD, MBA
43,
I think what you mean is,
"F&D isn't getting the votes. We clearly have the wrong voters."
I do not understand why candidates with only two elite Harvard degrees are being considered above me and my three elite Harvard degrees..
-Harvard: BA, JD, MBA
When F&D is good, she is very very good.
I'll take that over Sophist's consistent mediocrity.
People aren't voting because they don't care. You people act like this site is a religion and David Lat your Jesus. It's no big deal.
When F&D is bad, she is very very bad.
I won't take that over anything.
47-- Which post was supposedly very very good? All I ever read was mediocre stuff or personal confessions not suited for ATL
47 - I must have missed the "good," let alone the "very very good" posts. Are you sure she submitted them to this contest?
47-- Which post was supposedly very very good? All I ever read was mediocre stuff or personal confessions not suited for ATL
43 -- but only if you're voting for F&D right? try to be a little bit less obvious next time.
Sophist was good the first week and just got better. Unlike most I kind of liked Marin, but Sophist blew her away last week and just kept getting better.
43- why should people who haven't followed the ATL Idol contest vote? Oh you mean because they haven't seen how badly F&D has done these three weeks... I get it now.
48- Guys at my highschool used to not vote in blog elections all the time. It was no big deal.
I'm voting F&D. Sophist will bore this site to death.
KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH KASH
57- I don't get what you're saying... I think Sophist is the only one who even _tries_ to be funny...
And when the going gets tough F&D tells us her life story, sheesh
Guys in my high school used to write-in votes for Kash ALL THE TIME. It was a big deal.
ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER ARNIE BECKER
Guys in my high school used to write-in votes for Kash ALL THE TIME. It was a big deal.
Neither contestant sufficiently meets the "dirty girl" standard the audience here seeks and Lat provides easily. Kash would be a much better choice.
Is Kash dirty? I hope so.
Sophist = BOOOORRRRRRIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG. Remember that, people.
F&D = BOOOORRRRRRIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG. Remember that, people.
It's not like the shame pole or penicillin bath were especially hilarious...
Current results:
Sophist: 60.9%
F&D: 39.1%
68: The poll at the top updates when you hit refresh... Much easier then trying to post results in the comments.
This site used to be great. I wonder what happened
Watch for the "Under the Law" blog going up next week to coincide with the ATL Idol results, as known as the "Day the ATL Blog DIed." UTL LIVES!
Watch for the "Under the Law" blog going up next week to coincide with the ATL Idol results, also known as the "Day the ATL Blog Died." UTL LIVES!
Here are the relevant stats:
1. An anemic 995 votes so far (at 4:15 Eastern Time);
2. According to the Vizu map, 90% of the votes coming from the Eastern US.
Regardless of HOW you vote, you need to vote.
Second, those of you who thing David Lat is “leaving” this blawg are misinformed.
PS: Kash is staying too, even though she will be posting from Journalism School—which she starts in the fall.
Finally, please vote for Frolic. (To keep up that ATL edge.)
Or not.
Just vote :).
I'm Chinese, and I've told my Chinese friends to vote for Sophist. He's going to have a billion votes by the end of the day! Are 13 year olds allowed to vote?
Go Sophist!
73- I'm pretty sure that post made no sense... no wonder you support f&d
Dear 75:
What about the post do I need to clarify?
> The number of Idol final votes (so far) is pathetically low compared to the number of readers here.
> Why let (based on the total votes last round) 2,000 decide the EIC for a blawg read by hundreds of thousands?
> ATL caught our imagination, in part, due to its edgy, irreverent tone, and F & D (in my view) best captures that tone;
> Lat is NOT leaving ATL;
> Regardless of your choice for EIC, VOTE.
Any questions?
I've got one Q 76: How has anything F&D done actually been edgy? Do you even know what that word means?
Dear 77:
I am using “Edgy” as pushing the envelope
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=edgy
And having a bold, provocative, or unconventional quality
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/edgy
Example: Shame Pole post. (Not as polished or developed-edited as it could have been, but nonetheless demonstrative of some capacity for edginess, in contrast to Sophist’s more literal, boring—and error riddled—post.
Total votes so far: Total Votes so far: 1118.
Worse than the voter turnout for judical elections in LV this week......
Total Votes so far: 1118.
Worse than the voter turnout for judical elections in LV this week......
The shame pole was edgy now? Haha! That's hilarious. It was an overly earnst attempt to be different that FAILED.
And even if you are right, the bulk of F&D's posts have been pitiful.
81 -- be nice. stop rididuling f&d's shame pole.
What is your definition of "edgy"?
I will go with Merriam-Webster, thank you.
Maybe you could give us a link to one of your blog posts, 81?
No? I thought so.
Why would you think there are "hundreds of thousands of ATL readers?" There could just as easily be around 10,000 readers that come to the site 10 or 15 times a day. I know I do. Plus I hit refresh probably 100 times a day to update comments, poll results, etc. There might only be 5,000 or so actual readers that come here regularly.
Dear 84:
Because the widgits that keep track of these things also account for IP adresses and cookies inorder to differentiate.
This site (Ihave been told) has some 300,000 page views a month, with vastly more than 10,000 unique mnthly viewers.
But even if this site had only 10,000 readers (in which case it could not support the kind of revenue it boasts--let alone afford to pay Kash, Lat, and now a new EIC)--1,000 votes = a 10% voter turn-out.
Personally, I don't care about some random person's take on a mildly amusing Alabama lawsuit. I come to this site for scoops (first-hand bonus news, layoff reports, suits against firms, etc.) and then to watch as firms scramble to match or contain the damage. ATL is about attracting and publishing information pertinent to firm cogs like me. If those type of posts end, this site is over. Period. The upcoming bonus season will be the true test of S's or F&D's ability to keep this site going when Lat goes senior.
Many people (like myself) have their browsers set to erase all cookies or not allow them in the first place. There is no reason to allow a site like ATL to save cookies on your computer. Also, with dynamic IP addresses and people who visit the site from several different computers, you could easily have 3,000 or 4,000 people look like 10,000 people.
Even if there were 10,000 unique visitors every month, a good percentage of those people would not visit the site regularly and an even fewer percentage would care enough to follow and then vote on the contest. I would think that getting 2,000 people to vote (the turnout from last week) out of what is likely only about 2,500 unique people that actually visit the site regularly is pretty good.
Dear 43/73/76/78/79/80/85,
Votes continue to come in, and the proportion remains the same.
Essentially what you are asking for is for thousands of people to unexpectedly come to ATL and vote for F&D. Low voter turnout is the perpetual disappointment of any democratic process, but unless you're desperate for F&D to win, there is really no emergency here.
Dear 88:
No, not at all.
I simply think it would be preferable for the vote for EIC of this blog be more representative of its readership.
And a 1,000 vote turnout is pathetic—even by American election standards.
None who does not vote in this “election” has any right to complain about the result.
I think you are discounting the ways that a few thousand daily readers, plus numerous occasional readers, plus random people who follow a link to see this site for the first time, etc., all add up to the kind of traffic figures you've already quoted.
A website does not have to attract gargantuan numbers of people on a daily basis in order to generate revenue. Moreover, someone or some entity that manages multiple websites which have some overlap and cross-readership -- as Lat does, I believe -- can leverage the traffic of his other (related) sites when negotiating advertising rates.
10,000+ unique monthly viewers does not even begin to suggest 10,000+ dedicated daily readers.
I think, quite simply, that turnout is not nearly as bad as you suggest. This is what a Lot of people on the Internet looks like. Compare Slashdot, which has 5.5 million readers a month, but where the typical story generates only a few hundred comments.
The last ATL poll had over 2000 votes, but as David suggested in his comments, someone may have stuffed the ballot box. So I think what you see is what you get...
Are you just arguing to argue 87, or do yo have some point to make?
Why wasn't Judge Halverson invited to compete for Editor-In-Chief? Neither candidate would match her impact on the site.
This is from a ways back, but 29 was brilliant.
The 60/40, Sophist/Frolic vote allocation has been holding all day.
Looks like Sophist has it, with 1,200 votes cast so far.
Do law firms have static IPs? If yes, couldn't hundreds of associates from the same firm happen to vote for the same candidate?
I think the tips came in because people trusted Lat. I don't know if people trust any of these candidates enough to be as forthcoming and/or frank.
91:
87 made his/her point, and 90 made the same point. A voter turnout of 2000 votes is probably about right for this site.
Sophist!
LAT. The reason your usage statistics are up is because all the summer associates are reading the blog each day as they sit around feeling bored at their summer jobs. :) Similarly, the economy is pretty slow and the summers are here to share our work so us fulltimes are spending a lot of time reading something, aything, online as well. I bet WSJ law blog and gawker and wonkette readerships are all up too, and at the expense of ATL's. This competition was really boring, and it's hurt your viewership for sure. Even the judges were boring -- who knew Dahlia Lithwick could be boring?
Nobody knew Dahlia Lithwick could be boring. Everyone knew Ann Althouse could, though, so I'm not sure why we needed another forum for her to prove it.
Althouse is a fat, pink, fleshy sack of suck.
RE ATL's revenues. It's not just the number of page views that you sell, it's also the type of viewer. ATL's viewing audience tends to be BigLaw or BigLaw bound. It's a wealthy group with substantial disposal income, and is thus substantially more valuable to potential advertisers.
95:
Yes.
Sophist is soliciting votes on Facebook
Looks like we have a winner...
So, it’s Sophist by a landslide.
This is a clear reader preference (60%), so I cannot wait for the swearing in.
In addition, the same 60-40 vote breakdown held from the starting gate on Friday, through the weekend and the finish line—a pretty strong indication that the voting is an accurate reflection of reader preference in general.
106, I'm curious what you are going to do if you "cannot wait for the swearing in." Do you have some way of making it happen quickly?