USA Today reflects (!) on its audience’s reading choices. (Graphic by USA Today)

USA Today may not be the most high-brow of newspapers. But — unlike some Canadian news organizations — it did raise an eyebrow when it reported on which stories its readers were choosing to read.

Earlier this week, I mentioned how political news wasn’t among the 25 most read stories on the Victoria Times Colonist’s Website in 2013 — even though it was an election year in British Columbia. Nor did such stories make the list of the 10 most read Gazette stories on the Montreal newspaper’s Website.

It was a phenomenon that was repeated to a somewhat lesser degree at the Globe and Mail — and could be seen at other Canadian news outlets.

Stories about politics were also nowhere to be found on USA Today’s 10-most-clicked-on stories list, which included news about everything from the Boston bombings to Kim Kardashian.

But this is how the American newspaper framed those results:

Take a good long look in the digital mirror. These are the stories you clicked on most in 2013. Yes, you. (And thousands more like you.) Some of the stories that made this list might surprise you. Some may not. Some of them may even be a bit shameful. Should we care that Miley Cyrus’ antics broke into the top 10? Twice? The incredible rescue of Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus from captivity inside a Cleveland home didn’t make it. Nor did any news about the government shutdown. But Kim Kardashian having a baby is up there. Media organizations decided daily how to balance what you need to know and what you want to know. But no matter what, the readers’ actions tell the story, too.