Thank you for such a detailed and informative post. I'd read your other post earlier and it's nice to read a deeper analysis of Newsbreak that you've presented. I pretty much have experienced the same issue with Newsbreak. Like you, I just got started and already published 10 articles, but my follower count is at 34 at the moment.

Perhaps the most concerning aspects about Newsbreak are its harsh strike policy and extremely low pay. I think Newsbreak may be a trap and that's why the NDA agreement exists, as you rightly pointed it out. They want to lure creators in and push them to write their 10 stories with the promise they can later monetize their content. And since you don't exactly know what the monetary compensation will be you keep publishing articles. But then when you get there and it's time to sign the contract you will realize you've been tricked. So let's see how Newsbreak will treat me once I reach my 100 followers and apply for monetization. One thing I know for sure is that I won't be writing there for pennies. I'll be writing my article about my Newsbreak experiences here on Medium soon.