Search around the source code of any Medium page, and you will find a JavaScript variable named mediumOwnedAndOperatedCollectionIds. This array represents a list of IDs that indicate which publications Medium owns and operates. This story demonstrates how this variable shows which publications Medium owns.
Note: You can view the source code of a website in most browsers using CTRL/CMD + U.
What is a Publication?
A publication on Medium is a user-created organization that curates stories within a theme or topic. You can submit your work to a publication once you are added as an author. The steps to becoming an author for a publication depend on that publication’s application process.
What is a Collection?
A collection in the Medium source code refers to an object that collects multiple stories. In other words, a collection is a conceptual abstraction in the code which implements the “publication” feature. Thus, a publication is an alias for a collection.
A Collection ID is a universally unique identifier (UUID) used to identify a specific collection. As an example, the collection ID for the Creator Hub publication is b7e45b22fec3 . You can visit a publication’s page by using its ID in the collection endpoint https://medium.com/c/id .
Which Publications Does Medium Own?
The following list contains Collection IDs with their respective publications.
List Of Medium Owned Publications
- 8a9336e5bb4 — https://coronavirus.medium.com/
- b7e45b22fec3 — https://medium.com/creators-hub
- 193b68bd4fba — https://debugger.medium.com/
- 8d6b8a439e32 — https://elemental.medium.com
- 54c98c43354d — https://futurehuman.medium.com/
- 3f6ecf56618 — https://forge.medium.com/
- d944778ce714 — https://ffwd.medium.com/
- 92d2092dc598 — https://gay.medium.com/
- ae2a65f35510 — https://gen.medium.com/
- 1285ba81cada — https://heated.medium.com
- 544c7006046e — https://humanparts.medium.com/
- fc8964313712 — https://medium.com/humungus
- 40187e704f1c — https://index.medium.com/
- 88d9857e584e — https://level.medium.com/
- 7b6769f2748b — https://marker.medium.com/
- bcc38c8f6edf — https://medium.com/matter
- cef6983b292 — https://medium.com/medium-rare
- cb8577c9149e — https://modus.medium.com/
- 444d13b52878 — https://onezero.medium.com/
- 713d7dbc99b0 — https://stopasianhate.medium.com/
- ef8e90590e66 — https://tenderly.medium.com/
- 191186aaafa0 — https://thebolditalic.com/
- 55760f21cdc5 — https://themobilist.medium.com/
- 9dc80918cc93 — https://momentum.medium.com/
- bdc4052bbdba — https://medium.com/the-salve
- 8ccfed20cbb2 — https://zora.medium.com/
Do note that there exist publications that Medium owns which aren’t included in this list. For example, 15f753907972 (blog.medium.com) and c83e8f1cb0ef (medium.design) are Medium Owned and Operated but not included in the mediumOwnedAndOperatedCollectionIds variable. This indicates that there are other unspecified publications that Medium owns.
How Do Medium Owned Publications Work?
Medium Owned Publications seem to be operated in two ways.
- A Medium Staff Member (Content Team) is given administrative and editor permissions to operate a publication.
- A Medium User is contracted to run a publication for a specified period.
Evidence of operator method #1 can be found by viewing any Medium Owned publication. For example, Scott Lamb — the “VP of Content at Medium” — is the sole editor of the Coronavirus publication.
Evidence of operator method #2 can be found by reading posts from previously owned Medium publications that have shut down. The story “My Last Post On Humungus” describes the publication’s timeline from being approved (by Medium) to being shut down (due to an end of contract).
The history of publications on Medium also supports this information. The story “Are Publications Leaving Medium?” states that Medium partnered with certain publications in 2021. However, this partnership stopped due to budget cuts. As a result, certain “Medium Owned Publications” may be inactive.
