Yesterday's "Real Time" column in The Wall Street Journal is about whether newspaper Web sites can "recreate a joy" of print editions. Columnist Jason Fry, in "In Search of Serendipity," writes:

There's one common complaint I don't buy, however. And that's that an online newspaepr can't possibly replicate the experience of paging through a traditional paper and having your eye alight on a story you wouldn't normally have read. The shorthand for this is "serendipity," and mourning its loss, struggling to recreate it or steadfastly defending it has become a ritual at every newspaper trying to navigate the wrenching transition between the print and online worlds.

Even as a full-fledged digital media junkie/nerd, I'm torn on this debate. I'll be the first to admit that I really enjoy curling up on the couch on a Sunday morning with the print newspaper, my dog, a blanket and a cup of tea. And if I don't get to do that some weekend, I miss it.

Granted, during the work week it's not such a big issue because we have newspapers all over the place where I work (the Newspaper Association of America) and I spend a good chunk of some days perusing newspaper Web sites for best practices and innovation. (And, really, it's rare that I have time in the morning to read the paper when I'm usually running late anyway?)

But weekends are different and this might be part of the reason for that: I didn't have any Internet access -- or a laptop -- until college. My parents subscribed to the local newspaper (The Hartford Courant) when I was growing up. They now have print subscriptions to three -- yes, three -- different newspapers (The Charlottesville (Va.) Observer, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal). I grew up with ink on my fingers.

As Fry (reluctantly) admits, you can't really curl up with a laptop and for many people, reading a print newspaper can "summon up some surprisingly deep emotions".

But he also writes, "Serendipity isn't lost online. In fact, many newspapers desperate to recreate it don't realize they've already done so. This not-so-secret weapon? It's variously called Most Popular or Most Viewed."

Fry argues that Most Popular is a valuable tool that newspaper online editors and readers should notice more. He calls it a "Goldilocks path through the paper, turning up results that are neither too fine-grained... nor too general."

"Just think about it: A little module designed to generate page views by appealing to our voyeurism turns out to be the solution for one of online journalism's more vexing problems. I'd call that a bit of serendipity."

I'd call it that, too.