XML is a way of labeling or tagging information so that it can be retrieved or inserted into a website. This then makes this portion of the document more universally available to be retrieved or placed on a website. The information about the sender can be placed on any website and at that time the format will convert to fit the website. The data is separate from the formatting. This universal availability of data separated from the formatting is what the hype is about.
Data can freely flow independently.
They are making their news articles available in XML so that they can be placed on any website. Articles can be created and kept in one place and can be accessed by many different sources. Just pause to think of the amount of information there is in almost every office in America. Take a law firm. They could find and assemble information very quickly.