That assumes they're somehow counting individuals rather than site visits. I was hoping for a more definitive answer than 'some guy on the internet doesn't think it's going to make a difference.' If website analytics include both total hits and individual users as
@Kyla says, then multiple hits by individual users could make a difference if multiple people read the piece (good or bad) multiple times.
I think
@JayS has a good point. Bean counters are the ones controlling what gets published and what doesn't. Journalists have made it clear lately that it's not about what they want to write, it's about what the publisher wants to publish.