You coud try to set the DataSource on your list in pageload instead of directly in the control. You need to fetch descendants, not only children.

This should work:

protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
{
base.OnLoad(e);

List<PageReference> pageRefs = DataFactory.Instance.GetDescendents(LinkToArchivePage);

PageDataCollection filteredCollection = new PageDataCollection();

foreach (PageReference pageReference in pageRefs)
{
PageData page = DataFactory.Instance.GetPage(pageReference);
if (page.PageTypeName == "News Article")
filteredCollection.Add(page);

}

yourPageList.DataSource = filteredCollection;

}

I didn't see this sooner. Thank you for the prompt reply. I'm now subscribed to email notifications on this thread so I won't miss anything again. The code builds, but now I realize I haven't handled filtering the results by the currently selected language. Any thoughts? After researching, it seems maybe I should have gone down the "FindPagesWithCriteria" approach, but I'm wondering if there's a way to modify what you've provided without having to start over. I tried the code below and it almost works, but now is pulling in the page lists as well (2013,2012 from the first post) well.

Thanks!

protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
        {
            base.OnLoad(e);

            if (!IsPostBack)
            {
                this.LanguageString = (System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture).ToString();
                HomePageNewsList.PageLinkProperty = PageLinkProperty;
                if (MaxCountProperty != null && CurrentPage[MaxCountProperty] != null)
                {
                    HomePageNewsList.MaxCount = (int)CurrentPage[MaxCountProperty];
                }

                // Hide the whole control if the list is empty
                //this.Visible = HomePageNewsList.DataCount > 0;

                PageReference NewsPullPage = CurrentPage.Property["MainListRoot"].Value as PageReference;
                IList<PageReference> pageRefs = DataFactory.Instance.GetDescendents(NewsPullPage);
                PageDataCollection filteredCollection = new PageDataCollection();
                foreach (PageReference pageReference in pageRefs)
                {
                    PageData page = DataFactory.Instance.GetPage(pageReference);
                    if (page.PageTypeName == "News Article" && page.LanguageBranch == LanguageString && page.PageName.Length != 4)
                        filteredCollection.Add(page);
                }

                HomePageNewsList.DataSource = filteredCollection;

                
                HomePageNewsList.DataBind();

            }
        }

I think it is this line that make the 2012, 2013 pages appear in your list:

HomePageNewsList.PageLinkProperty = PageLinkProperty;

You kind of set the datasource twice I think. I do not think it is possible for the 2012 and 2013 pages to be added with the filter (the if-sentence) in place.

Try to remove the codeline mentioned and I think it should work. 

Yep, of course that was the problem. Thank you so much!!