Why? It's an article that explores a part of culture, and humans, and I don't see any outrageous claims or anything else? Just an author trying to understand something and writing about it. What is the sensationalist parts exactly?
"... the formation of an international pornography cult."
"The very air, suddenly, was misted with pornography."
There is more, but that seems sensationalist enough to me.
My understanding of "sensationalist" is that something is grossly exaggerated in shocking way, not just trying to be "poetic", although I'd argue that what the author did in this article comes off as more "cringe" rather than "poetic".