International expert addresses journalists on coverage of urban planning issues at WUF13 media session
Baku, May 21, AZERTAC
As part of the 13th Session of the UN World Urban Forum (WUF13), a special training session was organized for media representatives. The training was delivered by Laura Puttkamer, a journalist at “Urban Solutions Journali”, specializing in urban planning reporting in London.
At the training session, Laura Puttkamer introduced solutions journalism, encouraging reporters to go beyond problem-focused coverage and produce evidence-based stories on how urban challenges are being addressed while maintaining critical depth.
Laura Puttkamer stressed that simply calling a project “great” is not enough, stressing that journalism should examine why it was built, how public participation shaped it, its importance for the city, and how it was funded. She outlined solutions journalism principles built on four pillars—response, evidence, limitations, and insights—and said its goal is to produce constructive yet critical content that informs and empowers readers, policymakers, and communities.
Laura Puttkamer has extensive experience in urban studies reporting and has actively covered previous sessions of the World Urban Forum. She holds a master’s degree in global urban planning and has lived and worked in Germany, Ethiopia, India, and Mexico. She is fluent in German, Spanish, and French.
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