Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-04-01/Traffic report

The Report is more of a mix of random topics than usual this week. The top spot is taken by Bhutanese passport, a Wikipedia article which contained a crazed spoken word version which drew widespread attention. New U.S. presidential hopeful Ted Cruz took the second spot, beating out the departure of a member of One Direction (#3) in the news race for the week. And the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, which was also the most recent most-edited article, took #6.

'''For the full top-25 list, see WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation of any exclusions. For a list of the most edited articles of the week, see here.'''

For the week of March 22 to 28, 2015, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Rank ! Article ! Class ! Views ! Image ! Notes
 * 1
 * Bhutanese passport
 * Symbol stub class.svg
 * align="right"|1,771,673
 * This otherwise mundane article was vaulted to the top of the chart this week (up from #14 last week) due to the rather unfortunate fact that it included a spoken word version which to many sounded like a racist impression of Asian-accented English. KnowYourMeme.com explains that the audio was uploaded in June 2013, and got some attention prior to now.  But it only exploded to the extent of reaching our charts this past week, and the audio has now been replaced.  It was all no doubt a "joke", as the original author and audio recorder User talk:KuchenZimjah also created an draft article (now deleted) called "Maximums Edgar Snobbery", which was absurd.
 * 2
 * Ted Cruz
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"|1,161,829
 * Ted_Cruz,_official_portrait,_113th_Congress.jpg
 * Appearing on this chart for the first time, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz announced on March 23 that he would be running for the Republican party nomination for U.S. President in 2016. Cruz, who only joined the Senate in January 2013, is a fairly controversial figure in American politics.  A darling of Tea Party types and a much-disliked scourge of Democrats, Cruz will no doubt be generating more headlines in the future.
 * 3
 * One Direction
 * Symbol support vote.svg
 * align="right"|1,096,203
 * Zayn_Malik_November_2014.jpg
 * The departure of Zayn Malik (pictured) from the massively popular boy band on March 25 caused the celebrity-focused parts of the internet to explode.
 * 4
 * Emmy Noether
 * Symbol support vote.svg
 * align="right"|1,083,073
 * Noether.jpg
 * A Google Doodle on March 23 celebrated the 133rd birthday of this influential German mathematician. She has also been described as the most important woman in the history of mathematics.
 * 5
 * Lee Kuan Yew
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"|1,025,828
 * Lee_Kuan_Yew.jpg
 * The first Prime Minister of Singapore, recognized as the founding father of modern Singapore, died on March 23.
 * 6
 * Germanwings Flight 9525
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"|820,043
 * 320_GERMANWINGS_D-AIPX_147_10_05_14_BCN_RIP_(16730197959).jpg
 * On March 24, 2015, this passenger flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf crashed in the French Alps, after co-pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally descended from the plane's cruising altitude, with the captain locked out of the cockpit. All 150 people aboard the plane were killed.  There have since been almost daily revelations in the German and English press about why Lubitz committed this atrocity.  A number of countries have since issued new regulations requiring two authorized personnel to be present in the cockpit at all times, something already required by U.S. carriers.
 * 7
 * Richard III of England
 * Symbol b class.svg
 * align="right"|731,452
 * Richard_III_earliest_surviving_portrait.jpg
 * The last English king of the House of Plantagenet died in 1485, but his remains were discovered in 2012. He was reburied on March 26, 2015 at Leicester Cathedral.
 * 8
 * 2015 Cricket World Cup
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"|572,776
 * Bellerive oval hobart.jpg
 * Down from 765K views last week, and 923K views the week prior, but holding steady at #8. The tournament concluded on March 29 with Australia winning by 7 wickets over New Zealand.
 * 9
 * Bloodborne
 * Symbol c class.svg
 * align="right"|566,662
 * PS4-Console-wDS4.jpg
 * This action role-playing PlayStation 4 videogame was released last week, to positive overall reviews.
 * 10
 * Kanye West
 * Symbol support vote.svg
 * align="right"|547,403
 * Kanye West Lollapalooza Chile 2011 2.jpg
 * Yes, "loser.com" still redirects to his Wikipedia page, but the joke is wearing thin as numbers continue to fall.
 * }
 * align="right"|566,662
 * PS4-Console-wDS4.jpg
 * This action role-playing PlayStation 4 videogame was released last week, to positive overall reviews.
 * 10
 * Kanye West
 * Symbol support vote.svg
 * align="right"|547,403
 * Kanye West Lollapalooza Chile 2011 2.jpg
 * Yes, "loser.com" still redirects to his Wikipedia page, but the joke is wearing thin as numbers continue to fall.
 * }
 * }