I can't emphasize this enough: You don't owe Sarah Perez a damn thing. Not a "thank you" and especially not a debt of gratitude.

You can thank journalists for a lot of things: balanced coverage, fairness, excellent writing quality. Never, ever thank them for covering you, or for covering you in a positive light. Some journalists even consider this an insult.

Remember, they're serving their readers (and by proxy of course, their own interests, for all the cynics out there), not you. The article wasn't written for you, it was written about you.