"Sure, we all know that, but the trick is what to write for an audience that may have close to no knowledge of how computers work."

Maybe, but such writting also helps ensure that the audience never learns how computers work.

They're reading a brief news story, not an in depth analysis. Presumably they're smart enough to go elsewhere if they want to learn more. I'm not saying to write something incorrect, I'm saying the trick is to write something that's both correct, and comprehensible to the average person.

Sure, but saying XML is a programming language is wrong, however simplified it may seem.