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It's hard not to notice that the periodic recaps of web performance at LATimes.com don't dwell on writing or reporting quality, impact of the journalism or connecting with Los Angeles. It's all about numbers, seemingly. The eye balls of a teenage boy in Prague looking for tits count the same as a yuppie in Silver Lake or a studio executive looking for real news. And the horny kid in Prague is easier to attract -- just run paparazzi pics, which scored the most page views in the following rundown emailed to the Calendar staff yesterday. Note, though, that the Show Tracker, Web Scout and Dish Rag blogs did pretty good for the week. The worst ratings? For those pesky stories written by actual staff writers.
From: Kapsch, Joseph
Sent: Mon 4/7/2008 7:52 PM
Subject: Entertainment's weekly Top 10 (March 30-April 5)
Top stories
1) NBC unveils fall lineup 30,926 (FERNANDEZ, GOLD)
2) Singer Sean Levert dies... 27,305 (WIRE)
3) Projector: Odds in Leatherhead's favor... 15,209 (FRIEDMAN)
4) Review: Shine a Light 11,289 (TURAN)
5) Stalker arrested outside John Cusack's home 10,553 (BLANKSTEIN)
6) UCLA breach of Farah Fawcetts records 7,773 (ORNSTEIN)
7) Jean Nouvel awarded Pritzker Architect 7,558 (O'CONNER)
7) Leatherheads, starring Greenville, S.C. 6,981 (LIEBERMAN)
8) A Jay-Z, Beyonce wedding? 6,627 (FROM NEWSDAY)
9) Jason Taylor show new moves on Dancing with the....5,777 (FARMER)
Top narrative galleries
1) Red Carpet Rewind: Stars before stylists 224,338 (SNEAD)
2) April Fool's: Best celebrity pranks 125,882 (DAY, NETBURN, PHILLIPS)
3) Hollywood's hottest coordinating couples 109,042 (SNEAD)
4) The perils of Jodie Foster 73,886 (KING)
5) 'Today' show's twist & turns 57,587 (NETBURN, DAY, PHILLIPS)
6) Cram Sheet: Dark high school movies 46,588 (NETBURN, DAY, PHILLIPS)
7) Clooney through the decades 25,290 (KING)
8) Boy Bands through the years 23,500 (MARTENS, CRABTREE, LYSAGHT)
9) Showbiz7: Abigail Breslin's fave kid performances 14,355 (NETBURN)
10) TV pilots and pick-ups 13,349 (STAFF WRITERS)Top blogs
1) Show Tracker 100,018
2) Web Scout 89,813
3) The Dish Rag 84,117
4) Gold Derby 22,097
5) Funny Pages 2.0 21,667
6) Movable Buffet 16,245
7) Extended Play 12,012
Joseph A. Kapsch
Deputy Entertainment Editor
Los Angeles Times Interactive