Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (September 18 to 24, 2016)
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J'Accuse! pour pauvre petit JonBenét: In the United States, hundreds of children are murdered every year, and, thanks to an average homicide clearance rate of 64%, will likely have their deaths unanswered. But we as a culture, and perhaps as a species, can't handle that. So instead we shine lights on specific examples particularly deviant or prurient in their details, dubbed "media friendly", allowing us to shelter in our moral outrage. And boy did the murder of poor JonBenét Ramsey give us the chance to do that. JonBenét was a product of that strangely American industry, child beauty pageants, which, with their overly made up contestants made to look like living Barbie dolls, gave her murder a slightly paedophilic cast despite having no proven connection to it whatsoever. And with the media having anointed her as their icon of shattered innocence du jour, it is unsurprising that, with the approaching 20th anniversary of her death, the media have again chosen to anoint themselves the sole arbiters of truth and justice in her murder. Several television specials accounting the details of her death or offering new "evidence" have been shown or are in development, but the clear driver of views for this list is The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey, a CBS "documentary" that aired on Monday and Tuesday this week. Unlike the more cautious (rational) approaches taken by other networks, CBS decided to flat out name their chosen suspect, JonBenét's then nine-year-old brother, Burke. Needless to say, they're now getting threatened with defamation suits, and in the ensuing lahar of speculation, people turned to Wikipedia for clarity. He're hoping we provided it.
Speaking of unfounded accusations, rumours are again flying around the divorce of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, with echoes of Brad Pitt's previous divorce coaxing the media to turn on poor Marion Cotillard, who still managed to get her own back online. Celebrity presence on this list was also due to actual accomplishment, however; the Emmys also featured.
As prepared by Serendipodous, for the week of September 18 to 24, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes 1 Murder of JonBenét Ramsey 
1,155,334 
In the lead up to its 20th anniversary, the puzzling murder of this six-year-old beauty queen has become a topic of discussion thanks largely to the suggestions (as opposed to outright accusations, mind you) levelled by the CBS documentary The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey. 2 Angelina Jolie 
1,140,991 
As I have said many times in the past, I care not a jot for the private lives of celebrities. Divorces are never pleasant, least of all for the children, of which she has many, so I hope that, once the walls of tabloid illusion are blown away in the wind, she'll be able to provide them with a stable environment in which to grow up. 3 Pablo Escobar
1,091,369 
Narcos is back on your television screens, meaning Don Pablo is back on the list for another week. 4 Marion Cotillard 
884,417 
You know who else cares not a jot about the private lives of celebrities? Marion Cotillard, who filmed the spy thriller Allied with Jolie's husband Brad Pitt in the lead up to the divorce. This led to speculation that an affair between the two was the catalyst for the proceedings, presumably on the grounds that she is the only woman on Earth with whom one could contemplate cheating on Angelina Jolie. Cotillard, who by all accounts is in a longterm and happy relationship with French actor Guillaume Canet, with whom she is currently expecting her second child, refuted the claims with a withering post on Instagram that included the delicious line, "This crafted conversation isn't distressing. And to all the media and the haters who are quick to pass judgment, I sincerely wish you a swift recovery." Burn! I'd like to call her wonderfully down to earth, but she also believes in the moon landing hoax and 9/11 conspiracy theories. 5 Brad Pitt
851,307 
Ever since starting this list I've had that abominable song by Shania Twain rolling through my head: "OK, so you're Brad Pitt! That don't impress me much!" It seems those words were a curse. A very, very, very, long-delayed curse, but a curse nonetheless. Not that Brad Pitt is likely to be lonely long. 6 Deaths in 2016 
625,921 
The views for the annual list of deaths are remarkably consistent on a day-to-day basis. It is consistently higher in the first half of 2016 with a string of highly notable deaths, but things seem to be calming down a bit. 7 Pink (2016 film) 
593,314 
This Bollywood drama, starring Amitabh Bachchan (pictured), about three girls falsely accused of prostitution and attempted murder by the boys who sexually assaulted them, grossed ₹210.5 million ($3.2 million) in its opening weekend. Despite its heavy subject matter, being Bollywood, it still has musical numbers. 8 Stranger Things (TV series)
589,801 
This Netflix science-fiction series is basically an 8-hour homage to early 80s kid-centric flicks like E.T., The Goonies and Explorers, though aimed mostly at adults. It has been a smash hit for Netflix, evidenced by its continuing appearance on this chart -- ten straight weeks. Netflix recently ordered a second season. 9 Richard Garfield
570,257 
The creator of the first ever trading card game, Magic: The Gathering, is the great-great grandson of US President James Garfield, as learned in a Reddit thread this week. 10 Jennifer Aniston
542,402 
Despite having nothing whatsoever to do with her ex-husband's current breakup, the tabloids have latched her onto his every relational flutter for so many years that she's now back in the storm by sheer association. 11 John Bennett Ramsey
500,292 I have no idea as to his guilt or innocence vis a vis his daughter's death. I am one of those quaint people who believes such assertions should be kept in a court of law. But I will say this: if you're named John Bennett Ramsey, don't name your kid JonBenét Ramsey. It's corny and makes you look like a narcissist. If you want to make your kid a monument to yourself, first get the right gender, and then let him suffer through being called "Junior" for the rest of his life. 12 American Horror Story: Roanoke
497,141 
The sixth season of American Horror Story debuted on September 14. It invokes the story of England's failed attempt to establish a colony in America in the 1580s, where by 1590 all inhabitants had disappeared and could not be located. The only clue left behind by the "lost colony" was the word "CROATOAN" carved into a post. 13 Rami Malek
481,844 The Mr. Robot actor won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series this week. 14 Donald Trump
441,855 
Much as I would love to blame his presence here on some controversy, truth is this was a relatively quiet week for the Donald, with no obvious spikes in views and most news focusing on the upcoming debate. He's just... popular. 15 68th Primetime Emmy Awards
433,666 
The ceremony was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and featured a frankly long overdue win for Tatiana Maslany for her performance(s) in Orphan Black, and also Kate McKinnon for her portrayal of a psychotically unhinged Hillary Clinton on Saturday Night Live. 16 Alicia Keys
432,178 
On September 19, the Empire State of Mind balladeer became one of two new coaches for the the eleventh season of the US version of The Voice. 17 Katy Perry
420,528 
As anyone familiar with her coquettishly oooh-so-naughty song lyrics can probably guess, Katy Perry was raised by Christian fundamentalists, and, as learned in a Reddit thread this week, her parents forbade her from eating Lucky Charms, because they believed the concept of luck was Satanic. One wonders how they viewed the entire US economy. 18 Good Night, and Good Luck
418,300 
As learned in a Reddit thread this week, test audiences for the film Good Night, and Good Luck were thrown by its depiction of Senator Joseph McCarthy, claiming that he was over the top and unbelievable. Thing was, there was no portrayal. The film used archived news footage of McCarthy himself. 19 List of Bollywood films of 2016
401,418 
Generally a popular yearly list article, often slightly below the Top 25. 20 The Real Slim Shady
389,961 
As learned on a Reddit thread this week, Eminem was sued by his own mother for $10 million for defamation over his... questionable allusions to her in his breakout single, My Name Is. They eventually settled out of court for $25,000, most of which went to lawyers. 21 Roanoke Colony
385,680 
The historical background for the sixth season of American Horror Story (see #12). 22 Mr. Robot (TV series)
381,583 
The season finale of this cyberpunk thriller starring Christian Slater (pictured), aired on the 21st, just three days after one of its leads, Rami Malek snagged an Emmy for his role on the show. 23 2016 World Cup of Hockey 
373,214 
The world's eighth most popular team sport has been ill-served by international competition: this is only the third world cup in ice hockey's history, and it's being held 12 years after the last one. The final will be held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto (pictured). 24 Patsy Ramsey
371,349 The mere fact of her having been dead for 10 years hasn't stopped the media speculation as to her guilt in her daughter's murder. The fact that she's not here to defend herself makes it even easier. 25 Shawty Lo
368,242 The founding member of the hip hop group D4L died this week in a car accident.
Exclusions
edit- This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5-6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94-95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Since WP:5000 and WMF Topviews use different exclusion algorithms, articles that appear in one but not the other can also safely be excluded as false. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.
- Note: If you came here from the Signpost article, please take any discussion of exclusions to this article's talk page.