Rose, Dr. Y referred to me to this story when I shared an email that I wrote directly to NB. I had on my corporate consultant hat when I wrote them, and rather than bark at them about not accepting recycled material, I was rather disappointed that they really had not watched- studied-what happened on Medium. The scammers and users and complainers WILL game the system. And while the base pay was hugely helpful for me I was just finding my stride as a newcomer to Eugene (and under Covid) to start bringing that uber local material to the platform. I will keep writing for them, as my pay has averaged around a grand a month. But the constant and dizzying changes are irritating at best and frustrating to professional writers. You and I both are professionals- and that in and of itself draws a clear line between those who Google and produce shit content which insults Dear Reader and the interviews and events I am now doing in and around my new home town. Those profiles are among my favorite kinds of news, and they are indeed local fodder. Whether or not they get me adequate eyeballs is anyone’s guess. I’ve done my fair share of complaining, but for my writing dollar, like it or not, writing on Newsbreak has forced me to improve other areas of my material. You can hardly complain about that. And, now that some restrictions are lifted, for now, Newsbreaks' emphasis on local news means that I go out and make my stories happen, that puts me out into the community, and helps me integrate. Again, you can hardly complain about that. But folks who are aggreived don’t like being asked to shift, change and work. For my part, though, while I totally agree with your view, what I saw as a longtime Fortune 100 consultant was that Newsbreak seriously misunderstood what would happen, did not pay attention to what went on over here (the get rich buy from me bullshit) and simply did not plan. The main message I had for them is that when they keep being driven to change policy by the bottom feeders, they risk hurting their better writers. I could well be wrong but I have seen it a hundred times over. People get tired of being unable to plan, predict or run their businesses, and as writing is my primary business, it got annoying after a while. I don’t mind accommodating what they wanted for copy. I minded the sloppiness of how they are running their business and the constant excuse that they’re a startup, bear with us. NO. They aren’t. And you need to learn how to run a business that truly benefits those writers whose material does speak to your base. This latest iteration might well do it. My style may not work for them, as it’s much more of a personalization, although my CV scores are always very high. Still, they have every right. And I am beyond folks who bark when their shit content doesn’t earn them millions. But that’s just me. That’s why I took journalism school. Go figure, Rose. Great article.