The article is dearly more about Cole than Duffy, since she is the topic of four of the para-graphs, including this one;
It was Cole who chose Fargo as the microcosm for the debate on federal benevolence and intrusion. Says Duff/, who wrote the story. “She saw it as a fascinating mix of frontier and front page. Then she dissected Che town until she knew more about it than Fargoans. Late last week, needing an anecdote, she ran down to a local bowling alley, did three interviews and delivered a freshly minted kicker for the story inside an hour."
The placement of Cole in the information focus of the paragraph initial, stress focus deleft sentence signals that Cole will be the topic of the paragraph. It also provides stylistic variation in that the other three paragraphs about Cole begin: Cole has.,., Wendy has Cole found