A Dirty Secret That Also Limits the Quality of Medium Itself
It’s a problem of America-centrism, and makes you think about whether an entity can rightfully be called racist.
I live in a country where everybody speaks Spanish. So of course, I do too. I wrote on Medium in Spanish at times, but found it strange that readers who follow me and generally treat me well get quite offended that I’d write in Spanish.
Other writers are baffled when I tell them that I can’t get paid for my writing, because Panama and most Latin countries are “not on the list.” At times I wrote on Medium en español, but guess what folks. Medium decided that they’d quit supporting Medium en español, and to add to the insult mentioned that they didn’t plan on having any editors at Medium who could even read Spanish.
To say this another way, writers from all over the world who publish on Medium mostly can’t get paid. It really is a dirty little secret, especially when you observe the skin colors of people who can and cannot be paid. Or in the case of Latino writers, cannot even be understood.
I have my problems in Panama at times because Latin people are deeply offended by the crassness and racism of Americans. I’m not Anglo, but the people here generally don’t know the difference between an Anglo-Saxon and a German American like me.
I see race and ethnicity problems institutionalized in Medium and in the absurdly American-centric images available on Unsplash. Hell, they don’t even have the sense to make them mostly landscape pictures.
And Medium is the poorer for its narrow mindedness.
Medium is now paying writers in India, November 6, 2019
Update (Dec 22, 2019): Medium stops paying writers in India
That must have been an interesting month! I’ve gone through similar, once, and resigned myself to never getting paid. But Medium’s so screwed up they can’t even figure out how to get my $5 some months when my bank or Medium screws up, and oh, no, Medium isn’t going to cut me much slack.
Yet they’ve gotten my writing for free since 2019.
Here’s one way these behaviors limit Medium. My writing would be more professional and less abrasive if it mattered enough that I could get paid, even a pittance. Some publications have tried to figure out how to pay me, and it’s really not possible unless they go to Western Union. That’s the only way I know of.
But I bet Ev Williams has some bucks squirreled away here in Panama. It’s a huge banking capitol, but not for peons like me…
Because I live on less than $900 per month, and my computer and other supplies and of course my $5 per month and internet come out of my pocket.
Think about that, Americans.
Fred
