I have mixed emotions about the Medium change.

On the one hand, as a for-profit publisher trying to make it in the media space, I am sympathetic to the forces driving their decisions. Advertising is dead or dying. Donations only go so far. Writers should be paid, as should other contributors. “Free” is great until you have to meet a payroll.

On the other hand, as someone who has signed up for the Medium partner program and started putting our articles behind their paywall, I have noticed that articles that once would have gotten numerous views are now getting many less views. The difference has been dramatic.

Fortunately for us, we have our own site and other channels, and are not solely dependent on Medium. (Good thing.) We did the partner thing to see if it would generate some income. So far, I think we’ve made seven cents.

We have moved to a flexible paywall (a la NYT) and so far it seems to be the best solution we’ve tried.

Thank you for the article. I was unaware of Medium’s actions toward publishers who don’t put things behind the paywall. I think I’ll try that for a while, just to see what happens.