Technically speaking, the word 'these' as used by PG doesn't refer to anyone, as the group he's referring to (non-programming women) isn't specifically mentioned by him or the interviewer previously. So it is indeed ambiguous, and it would make sense to clean up, in a vacuum.

Valleywag was clearly out for blood, and it sucks they don't care what PG meant, and PG very clearly didn't say women aren't hackers, even without the 'these'. The tone is absurdly clear.

The Information wasn't wrong to remove it from a grammatical standpoint, but hopefully their editors will walk away with a better understanding of how precise language can be. Frankly, I doubt PG or The Information saw this coming.

Why this has been a newsworthy event baffles me, but here we are.