In the past, I came across a few publications that paid writers. Back then, some pubs had a partnership with Medium, and they could afford to compensate writers. Things have changed since then, and while I cannot speak for ALL the Medium publications, but a vast majority of them do not pay writers out of their own pockets. However, writers who are part of the Medium Partner Program can always choose to meter their stories and make money that way. This way, writers get paid by Medium dierctly.