Martha,

"Four days later, Field's video had been viewed by 76,000 people, and a shortened clip of the exchange had been viewed by more than 800,000." (TWP, 03aug11)

My position, crisply stated for Geoff, is that (1) both 'had been's are correct, and (2) you can prove it by applying the past-tense default, in this case "was".

"Four days later, the video was viewed by 76,000 people"? Obviously not what was intended, that on the fifth day, 76,000 people logged on to see something they ignored for the first four days. Ditto for the shortened clip and the 800,000 people.

The past perfect: by the time something happened, something else had already happened.

.brad.04aug11. 
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