I launched this publication in May of 2024. I don’t do newsletters or frequent pub-meta posts, so, last year I decided to do an annual check-in with readers and writers. This is check-in #2.

Thank you to our readers

The sections below mainly concern the writer's side of things, but first: a big thank you to everyone who supports this publication as a reader. I work hard to ensure that any article you encounter here is unique, thoughtful, and well-crafted. So, please, keep showing up and seeing what our brilliant writers have to say about this troubled world we live in.

In Year 1, our articles were viewed around 50,000 times.

In Year 2, that number grew to 70,000.

Modest growth, but I’ll take it.

While I’m here… I’ll set a goal of 100k views for Year 3.

What I set out to do here, and how it’s going

I’m going to plagiarize some text from last year’s post:

“This publication seeks stories and essays that relate to public policy. We welcome professionals discussing their areas of expertise, as well as personal storytelling from laypeople who have been impacted by certain policies.

The internet is full of standard, just-the-facts journalism. There’s also plenty of sarcastic, one-sided political ranting. Here, we aim for a middle ground — informed, intelligent, and balanced writing that also incorporates the writer’s opinions, experiences, and personality.

I’m happy to say that from Day 1, the majority of writers who submit here seem to “get” what we’re looking for. It’s been gratifying and humbling to receive such fine writing.”

…well said, 2025 Kenny! It’s all still true. I’m so grateful to work with so many writers who, frankly, are much more talented than I am.

In particular, I want to give a quick, special thank-you to the three writers who have contributed the most stories to Policy Panorama: The Anthony Perspective, Roxana Ologeanu-Taddei, and Adam Lantz. These three are incredibly well-informed, creative, and articulate, and it’s a privilege to work with them.

If you’re interested in contributing as a writer, review our Submission Guidelines. Don’t be intimidated (like I am) by the expertise of most of our writers. “Non-experts” are welcome too, especially if there’s a policy issue that’s affected you personally.

Visit the Editor’s Picks page if you’re looking for examples of the types of stories that we love receiving.

Boosts

Medium is eliminating the Boost Nomination Program. That means pub owners like me are losing our cherished “nommer” status and can no longer directly recommend your stories for Boosts.

The Boost itself is not going away. Medium’s bleary-eyed curators will continue binge-skimming articles in search of gems. And, it’s a certainty that they will keep a close eye on former nom-pubs, especially ones (like Policy Panorama) with low volume and high standards. So, if you care about Boosts, pubs like this one will remain ideal locations for scoring them.

Featuring

Medium lets publications feature one story per week. Featured stories get extra distribution. If they perform well, the effect can snowball.

Since Medium is decreasing emphasis on the Boost and increasing the automated role of the algorithm, Featuring is becoming more meaningful. As a small, selective publication, we’re able to Feature a high percentage of the stories we publish.

Featuring a story doesn’t always make a massive difference, but it is impactful. Some non-Boosted, Featured articles get the spark they need to achieve algorithmic lift-off.

Editor Partner Program

Starting in June, this pub will be part of Medium’s new Editor Partner Program. In this program, editors will receive payments worth 25% of the earnings generated by the stories they edit (paid separately, with writers continuing to keep 100% of their earnings).

I absolutely loved being a nommer, but I think Medium is moving in the right direction with this change. Money will move in a more predictable, balanced manner.

Our approach to editing won’t change. If you’ve written here before, you know that the editing you receive is thorough and attentive, but not overbearing. My goal is to be as helpful as possible while allowing writers to maintain a complete sense of control over their work. I receive overwhelmingly positive feedback on my work as an editor, which I appreciate immensely.

So, if you write articles that would be a fit here, please keep us in mind.

Once a year, I do tags. Forgive me.

Tagging everyone who published here in the past year. If that’s not you, but you’re tagged, then please take this post as a humble sales pitch and an invitation.

PW Murphy Eleni Stephanides ethX Barton Dunant Ricky Lanusse Martina H Ilya V. Ganpantsura Purbita Chakraborty Deniz Cem Sahin Ben Shread-Hewitt Cappelli, MFA, JD, PhD Eve Castle Vincent Halles Brad Yonaka Steven Frank Jens Peter Olesen Determination, Deliberation, and Dragons Flavia Corso Peter Burns Rich Kolodziej Sophie Goes Places BreakTheSilo C.S. Voll Byron W Woodson Sr. Gordon Swenson Young Joon Oh Nesu Nasu Melissa Rock Yuri Minamide LGWare, The Black Lens Prateek Dasgupta Joe Guay - Dispatches From the Guay Life! Peter Sassi Nevena Pascaleva George Dillard RL Vanwey

Policy Panorama turns two, plus Boost/Editor Program updates was originally published in Policy Panorama on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.