I'd agree, but you also have to say the same thing about HTML.... As someone who is in software development, I cringe when people say they can "program in HTML"...
But the article was about "programming skills", not languages, and being able to represent data as XML (either by hand or programmatically) is a skill.
And you can cross the line with XML with XSLT.
It should be HTML/CSS. CSS is not easy to master.
No way XML and HTML are programming languages. The people who do are the same ones who call AR15’s automatic weapons, and a Magazine a Clip. Try to put XML into a loop. You can’t that’s called XSLT.
Remember Journalist’s are not too bright.
HTML 5 is starting to edge toward a programming language. But, I agree -- it's not there yet.
You think YOU cringe, try to imagine what it feels like when I am called to solve a coding problem / bug / feature with a minimum of four scripting languages (I hate to label it thus but since so many people use it; also including html) and they need someone who thinks in Assembly to figure out that they are misusing or multiple-writing to the same registry addy, among other things.