I think this is just due to the form of a news article. "The mistake was made by IBM Technical expert Julia Smith, 38, from Palm Springs, Colorado. Julia, who

I think this is just due to the form of a news article. "The mistake was made by IBM Technical expert Julia Smith, 38, from Palm Springs, Colorado. Julia, who graduated from Stanford in 2001 was described by neighbors as serious and career focused". Age, place of birth / residence, education, marital status, character. Journalists will mention as many of these as they can easily find out (and they have established ways of easily finding out). When they find something unusual, in these things they are checking anyway, it becomes that persons defining characteristic, a hook for the story.