Collective update: new Medium stories are now open for everyone
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Medium has recently updated its rules around the Partner Program to be more transparent with authors on how their stories are being distributed on the platform.
- New stories published on Medium are now open and accessible to everyone by default. No more paywalls.
- Writers who are enrolled in the Medium Partner Program will have the option to place their stories behind the metered paywall. If they choose to do so, their stories are eligible to earn money. (Source)
- Great stories will be distributed across Medium’s channels (website, app, emails) regardless of being member-only or open-for-everyone. As official Medium partners, we are able to elevate and distribute stories as well so they can reach more people.
- If you land on a story that is “for members only”, know that the author has consciously made the decision to close the story — and that the author is being paid by Medium based on how readers engage with their stories. As publication editors, we don’t have any influence or control over whether a story is part of the program or not. It’s the author’s choice, and their choice only. As it should be.
Here’s what Ev Williams, founder of Medium, has to say about the updates:
“It is free to publish on Medium, your content is always yours, and we will host it for free, indefinitely. This applies whether or not you choose to make money by putting your articles behind the Medium paywall or make them completely free. Yes, there is a paywall, which blocks reads after a few articles per month — but only if they were put behind the paywall by the writer (which, again, is optional). Many writers choose not to do so. But if they do, know that they are getting paid when members read their posts.”
We are excited about these changes and how they will make design content more open and accessible to everyone to read, while still giving authors the ability of getting paid for their writing if they choose so.
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