I really am not seeing why you keep saying that.
I have already said make a website they can link to, have some screen shots, have testimonials of current users, have a change list. All you cannot do is have user interaction or a download link. You can link to your thread or sub-forum here for those two things.
Then whatever press is doing an article on you can link to the website.
Although I would say that it would be disingenuous of the journalist to say "we will not review your product because the link is to your sub-forum since it is a "paywall" " where as to use the product legally that they are reviewing it would not be a paywall as you would have a code included with the game, and there is no way to pay just for the code or access.
Mean while they would happily link to other commercial sites that bombard people with ads. But that is just me. A matter of perspective I suppose.