Welcome to the re-launch of BabyBarista – keeping it free of charge!
I have today withdrawn the BabyBarista Blog from The Times in reaction to their plans to hide it away behind a paywall along with their other content. Now don’t get me wrong. I have absolutely no problem with the decision to start charging. They can do what they like. But I didn’t start this blog for it to be the exclusive preserve of a limited few subscribers. I wrote it to entertain whosoever wishes to read it. Hence my decision to resign which I made with regret. I remain extremely grateful to The Times for hosting the blog for the last three years and wish them luck with their experiment. I hope very much you like the new site and also the addition of the wonderful cartoons by Hollywood animator Alex Williams who also draws the Queen’s Counsel cartoons for The Times.
A request
I do have one request to any readers who enjoy this blog. Without the support of a large national newspaper, I would appreciate any help I can get in publicising it. This might be through forwarding the link to your friends or even more helpfully putting a link up on your own blog or website. This press release might be of use in this respect. For a list of those that have already written about this, click here.
Follow me on Facebook and Twitter.
May 28, 2010
· 
Tim Kevan · 
53 Comments
Tags: paywall · Posted in: Uncategorized
53 Responses
Great decision to move away!
I’m highly sceptical about the long-term wisdom of the Times’ plan to implement their subscription model, particularly as it’s seemingly just down to a gust of Murdoch bravado against Google. Oh well – I guess it will be very interesting to see how it shapes up over the next year or so.
Good on you, BabyB, keeping your words free for all to enjoy. I’d noticed that The Times had moved you to their new site and had even been prepared to fork out to continue reading you there, but am glad to observe that even lawyers can be altruistic at times. Linking back to you as we speak… cheers!
Thanks Michael and Ragini. I appreciate your support. Keep the comments coming! Very best wishes, BabyB
Great move Tim. Some excellent work has gone into this site. I have followed you for 3 years now and have greatly enjoyed your posts. However, over the last year the gap between your posts have grown. Hope to read more of you here. And hey how come you are signing as Tim now. I prefer you as Baby B
Thanks Cicero, really appreciate your kind words and point taken on my signature! All the very best, BabyB
Hi Tim
Congratulations on your fresh start. The new drawings / Dramatis Persone really brings the blog to life.
Linked!
Well done Tim and delighted to see you in your own blog. If it helps I know that Charon QC and I have both tweeted your move (as have many others I’m sure).
I’d love a set of the cartoons as prints. Any chance of making them available (for an appropriately modest price of course!!)
Hi Tim,
The Times paywall thing is going to prove to be a nuisance I think, particularly amid the student community, some of whom relied on the freebie Law updates rather than shellack out for the paper version.
ANYhoo, just swung by to say good for you! I love your new site, and will add you to my blogroll forthwith!
Thank you Kris and Pensionlawyeruk. Glad you both like the drawings. i’m sent Pensionlawyer an email about buying them as requested. Best wishes to you both, BabyB
Hey thanks Law Minx. Obviously I’ve already got a link up to your own fabulous blog! Hope all’s well and thanks again, BabyB
Hey BabyB, I have been reading your blog for three years and I have no intention of abandoning you. Keep up the good work. Promise to spread the word. Maybe I could become one of your characters – Young black barrister trying too hard to fit into chambers hahahaha
Hey thanks Sena, appreciate the support
Very best wishes, BabyB
Good effort…. excellent decision.. while I enjoy Frances Gibb reports… I always think it a good idea to defy Uncle Rupert!
May I recommend that you drink a lot of Rioja – lawyers should never be knowingly under refreshed… veracity is all
Good stuff… will link and do what I can to spread ze word!
Thanks Charon, very much appreciated and yes, I’m all in favour of Rioja oiling the wheels of justice! Not sure it will make be be able to paint as well as you though. Love your picture of Cameron as Captain America and Clegg as Spiderman!
May i wish you all the best luck! i love your blog, its sooo true and i bet im not the only one who thinks this!
Congrats with the new blog. Great look!
Good move. Love the cartoons (am positive I know BusyBody). Link done.
Nice move! Will continue to follow you on here
Great stuff Baby B … I was dreading losing my refreshing look at life at the bar in the UK … as I am not interested in paying for the times site – although I will miss it – as an aside, not that impressed with the new platform (while it is still free) … but that is not the point, I would have been devestated to lose the mouldy litigation and the battle with top first … keep up the amazing work!! I have sent emails with the new site and am about to update my facebook status (for whatever good it will do)
rusty
Thanks guys. Really appreciate the support and Simon, how on earth was I not already linked to your site? Done now
BabyB
Baby B.
A good move.
I practice locally in Singapore and have roughly the same experience.
Although a lot older ,this being my second career,I really can identify with your L plate.
I will pass this along to the fraternity.
Your work is much appreciated.
Barry Delaney
Great move. Walled gardens are doomed. Wonderful new site. Have tweeted and added you to the Roll.
Best
SDJ
(Sydney Bar 1990-94)
Yay!
Posted on FB and about to Tweet.
Keep up the good work. For what it’s worth, question the wisdom of the Timesonline.
Glad you’ve moved to a new site. been reading you since the start and was not wishing to pay to access the new site.
As a solicitor I will miss the free Times Law reports on line. Used to be a good quick way to keep uptodate with my morning coffee but I’m not paying to access a website.
Will tweet/post on my blog.
Yoh! Much better than The Times version…! Keep it up Tim!
I think the Times may have just shot themselves in the foot – the babybarista blog “almost” got me to subscribe…
BTW – I was going to suggest that you add the Facebook and/or LinkedIn and/or Twitter widgets (but looking at the comments above you may have already done so – unfortunately, I’ve not got the time to use courts wifi to fully check at the moment…!)
Have fun Tim – and sock it to TopFirst (he sounds like my worst nightmare!)
Kev (Inner Temple, 1999)
Good luck, Tim. The right move for you and Baby B. I’ll certainly link it to my blog. I do like the new site you’ve got. It’s going to be great!
Added to blog roll and to my own feeds.
Great move. Walled gardens are doomed. Wonderful new site. Have tweeted and added you to the Roll.
Best
SDJ
(Sydney Bar 1990-94)
Great stuff Baby B … I was dreading losing my refreshing look at life at the bar in the UK … as I am not interested in paying for the times site – although I will miss it – as an aside, not that impressed with the new platform (while it is still free) … but that is not the point, I would have been devestated to lose the mouldy litigation and the battle with top first … keep up the amazing work!! I have sent emails with the new site and am about to update my facebook status (for whatever good it will do)
rusty
Good move. One request – could you please put the full text on the rss feed, as it was previously?
Tweets that mention BabyBarista » Welcome to the re-launch of BabyBarista – keeping it free of charge! -- Topsy.com - May 29, 2010
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andres Guadamuz, Lisa. Lisa said: RT @technollama: Law blogger leaves The Times because of paywall: http://bit.ly/a7U0yS [...]
Congragulations !!
it is highly important to follow on one’s principles
and to do what is (essentially) right , best of luck with
your blog , which i have book-marked.
If you go onto Twitter (or are already!!) let us know,
so I can follow
Admirable decision.
But I read that NYT wouldn’t block readers over their free limit if they got there through a link. At least half of the stories I read now are through links from Twitter, which is like my RSS newsfeed. I thought that policy was great.
Your thoughts?
Well done Baby B! Counsel is instructed to carry on regardless, to work without pay (do you do publically funded family matters?), and to whisper continuously in the ear of Ceasar that he is mortal and his great thoughts and orations are nought but snail trails evaporating in the morning sun…
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Thanks so much for all the comments. Really appreciate the support.
A few people have asked about Twitter and Facebook and I’ve put up links in the profile on the left hand side and also at the end of this blog post. Not on LinkedIn.
Andrew – Not yet sure how to change the RSS feed to the full blog I’m afraid.
Very best wishes,
BabyB
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Congrats to the decision! I just found your blog and will be a frequent reader.
In Germany, the flattr service is highly debated at the moment as the button spreads amongst press websites and circulates within the blogosphere. How about this simple opportunity to allow readers who want to show their support to do so?
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I do say that the London Times is in for a rough time. If you look at Long Islands NewsDay paywal fiasco. It ended up with 38 subscriptions after 3 months.
Rupert Murdochs sucess with the WSJ is an exception based on a few simple things. The WSJ makes people money, the people who subscribe have good accountants that allow them to write off the subscription, financial corporations pay for staff subscriptions, it is a targeted paper.
The rules to make money on internet subscriptions are, will it make me money, will it get me laid, is it required for my work, is it more convenient than the alternative, is this the only place I can get this information. The times has none of these things.
The great hope of the newspapers seems to be the iPad and its future android clones. They seem to be under the delusion, that people will pay a dollar a day for a paper they are having a hard time selling now.
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I simply wanted to say your blog is one of the nicely laid out, most inspirational I’ve come across in quite a while. Thx!
Thanks for this post mate. hope you have a good day. thanks.
Very nice site! is it yours too
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Thanks for making my morning a little bit better with this great article!!