I think the policy came about when a new publication decided that it would make every writer an editor which made the Publication vs self-publishing to profile distinction meaningless. Better than creating an exception, they should have an across-the-board ratio of editors to stories published. But we all know Medium does not practice transparency so who really knows what its motives are, except one--profit for it. The idea that some have that Medium is a place where writers can regularly make money has always been absurd. They'll keep throwing out some bones like with the new boost system (which is just a rehash of the original curation system but mostly using free labor) that can lead to a writer making good money off of a story every now and then but it will never be a place from which to earn a living as a writer. https://medium.com/illumination/is-medium-a-malignant-narcissist-1f3d55793bf6