Another week

No particular trends to spot in this week's top article traffic. Pablo Escobar maintains the top spot for a second week due to the new Netflix series on his life, followed by the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The Queen of England is #6 by virtue of now being the longest-reigning British monarch in history. This was dutifully noted by the press in the same way that same event was noted in September 1896 when Queen Victoria took that title. Thus does time march on.

For a list of the most edited articles of the week, see here.

For the week of September 6 to 12, 2015, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages (and culled from the Top 25 Report), were:

Rank	Article	Views	Image	Notes
1	Pablo Escobar	1,454,312	File:Pablo Escobar graffitti.jpg	Holding steady in the top spot for a second week (down by about 130,000 views). The Capone of cocaine shot from the bottom to the top of this list last week, thanks to the Netflix series Narcos, which charts his rise, brutal rule, and bloody end. It is odd that the Colombian drug lords haven't been romanticised as their Italian Chicago predecessors were. Perhaps it's simple xenophobia, or more likely, because we are so much more aware of how barbaric they were.
2	September 11 attacks	1,245,665		The 14th anniversary of these terrorist attacks repeats its second place showing from last year, when it was eclipsed by a Google Doodle on Leo Tolstoy. It topped the chart in 2013.
3	Serena Williams	806,091		Serena's no stranger to this list, and she returned this week as she played in the 2015 US Open, ultimately losing to Roberta Vinci (#19) in the semifinals.
4	Eazy-E	709,350		Down one spot and about 120,000 views from last week, for a fifth straight week in the Top 10 is the article about the founding member of N.W.A, whose death from AIDS at the age of just 31 forms the emotional climax of the film Straight Outta Compton.
5	The Visit (2015 film)	692,721		The latest film from director M. Night Shyamalan is this comedy horror movie, released in North America on September 11. It finished second at the box office, just edged out by The Perfect Guy (which is somewhat oddly all the way down at #205 in the raw WP:5000). The film has received mixed reviews from critics, though some have praised it as a return to form for Shyamalan.
6	Elizabeth II	627,601		The Queen returns to the top 25 for the first time since May, when she welcomed a new grandchild. On September 9, she surpassed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria to become the longest-reigning British monarch in history, at 63 years, 217 days, and counting. Victoria took her title on September 23, 1896, which the press similarly noted back then.
7	Deaths in 2015	575,096		The viewing figures for this article have been remarkably constant; fluctuating week to week between 450 and 550 thousand on average, apparently heedless of who actually died. Views were slightly higher this week at 575K. Deaths noted on the list this week include Russian water polo player Vladislav Timakov (age 24, September 6, heart attack); Spanish woman's right activist Elena Arnedo (age 74, September 7); Azerbaijani musician Habil Aliyev (age 88, September 8); American businessman Charles Hallac (age 50, September 9, cancer); Italian actor Franco Interlenghi (age 83, September 10); Georgian writer Rezo Cheishvili (age 82, September 11); and The Damned bassist Bryn Merrick (age 56, September 12, cancer)
8	Syrian Civil War	567,289		The ongoing refugee crisis, now more directly impacting Europe than before, is getting increased attention.
9	Labor Day	550,603		An annual appearance, the first Monday in September is the traditional end of the United States summer season, and, for some people, the last time of the year it is in any way excusable to wear white.
10	Narcos	528,389		Down from #4 last week. The TV series about the rise of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (see #1) premiered in its entirety on Netflix on August 28.

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16 September 2015 (all comments)

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Anyone interested in how the US GOP candidates are doing, here's my updated viewcount chart through this past week:[1]--Milowent • ^hasspoken 19:22, 16 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Why not both Republicans and Democrats? Or exploring the relationship between page views[2][3] and other measures? EllenCT (talk) 19:01, 19 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Because I am particularly interested in the circus of Trump, because his wikipedia numbers seem to be correlated with his poll standings. It is extremely doubtful that any Republican candidate can be elected president in 2016. The Democratic race is comparatively boring, and Hillary Clinton is very likely to be the nominee, and next president.--Milowent • ^hasspoken 20:03, 20 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

If you doubt a Republican can be elected, why wouldn't that make the Democratic race less boring? Trump is, as you and he both say, a circus for ratings to try to get people to passively consume media without any meaningful participation. Hillary Clinton is no longer leading likely primary voter polls in New Hampshire or Iowa. Saying her election is "very" likely requires ignoring substantial signals and clear trends. Neither oddsmakers nor candidates' fundraising statistics suggest a noncompetitive Democratic race. EllenCT (talk) 16:12, 21 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I'll pay attention to the candidates on substance a year from now, for now I'm just enjoying the spectacle of Trump. Since reporting is so devoid of substance on the candidates' positions, anybody can lead in the polls no matter how ridiculous they are. E.g., Trump can't deport 11 million people, will never happen. Its like Pakistani's who devoutly defended Agha Waqar's water-fuelled car -- the stupid burns. Even when i was really young, I liked Ross Perot only for the spectacle. So I warped early on. But -- I'm mindful of your point that I should be careful about ordaining Hillary even in jest when I write the report, so I appreciate you approaching this issue rationally.--Milowent • ^hasspoken 18:07, 21 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Next week's chart is going to be a doozy for GOP candidates. Carly Fiorina will be #2 (1st time Trump has been beaten in views), followed by Trump at #5 and Carson at #10, I think. None of these folks have ever held elected office.--Milowent • ^hasspoken 12:10, 21 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Minor correction. The Queen isn't Queen of England, as that hasn't been a title since 1707. She's Queen of the United Kingdom (and the other 15 Commonwealth Realms). Kaiser matias (talk) 09:03, 24 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]