From a journalistic standpoint, I have no problem with Cole going into the church to get photos and cover the situation. If she expressed personal opinions about the situation and it wasn't labeled commentary, that's absolutely wrong. BTW, the phots she took made her a finalist for the Pulitzer that year.
Throwing rocks to stir things up would also be wrong, but I don't see in either article that she was convicted.
Here's some more about Cole that you didn't include:
In mid-2003, Cole went to Liberia, as rebels surrounded the capital, Monrovia, demanding the resignation of President Charles Taylor. This trip was to earn her the 2004 Pulitzer Prize, "for her cohesive, behind-the-scenes look at the effects of civil war in Liberia, with special attention to innocent citizens caught in the conflict."
On top of the Pulitzer win, in 2004 Cole was named both NPPA Newspaper Photographer of the Year for a second time, for her work in both Liberia and Iraq, and the Pictures of the Year International Newspaper Photographer by the University of Missouri. This made her the first person ever to win all three of America's top photojournalism awards in the same year. During the year, she also spent time in Haiti, witnessing the fall of the regime of Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Cole has also received the Robert Capa Gold Medal from the Overseas Press Club in both 2003 and 2004, and won two World Press Photo awards in 2004.
Pulitzer gave an award to a journalist who made up stories of Katrina victims in a stadium stacked up in a fridge.
Pulitzer doesn't mean what you think it does.
The Time journalist who is undercover with Al Qaeda. Is he a traitor?