[Page view statistics] are, in particular, helpful as a counterweight to the kind of complacency that all too easily sets in at major news organizations, where you assume that what DC insiders consider good work is also what readers care about.
Paul Krugman weighs in on the benefits of being at least slightly obsessed with pageviews. Now someone needs to ask the economist to turn his Nobel prize winning mind on pageview bonuses. (CoughFelixCough)