See writing letters DOES help

today, I wrote this:

In your story, "Seattle man charged in 2nd hate-crime case," you have identified the victim as "a man who was dressed as a woman." In fact, the victim is transgender and identifies as a woman. According to both the AP Style Guide and the New York Times Style Guide, she should therefore by identified as a woman by the press and female pronouns should be used. To call her a man is incorrect and offensive and is using the same logic that her attacker likely used.

I hope you can correct this article and avoid making this mistake again in the future.

And I got a reply:

Your message regarding the story about the bus shelter assault was forwarded to me because I wrote the item. I used the language that was in the charging papers without realizing it would be hurtful or offensive. Thanks for raising my awareness. Had you not written in, I might have made the same mistake in the future.

Oh, man, that totally helped!

See, so writing to newspapers is not just spinning your wheels! So carry forth! We will make this a better world, one reporter at a time!