This might sound weird, but I think they can. More so, I think they want to. I think there's a type of writer they are looking for and anyone who doesn't meet the criteria is an acceptable loss.

I hope I'm wrong, but did you see the article Lincoln wrote about suppressing writers to strengthen their brand? I won't link to it here, but I linked to it on my profile. It's just a few posts down from the top.

Like you, I'm going to adapt and see if I can pick my stats back up. Just had to get through Black Friday week because I work in ecommerce and it's the craziest week of the year. No time to even write last week. :)