After studying physics and social sciences at the University of São Paulo, Laura worked as a special reporter for the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo between 2004 and 2013. She was also the news director of Notícias Populares (São Paulo). She directed new projects at Editora Abril and worked for Veja magazine. She won the Esso Prize for Reportage in 1994, for her work "Woman, the great change in Brazil" completed in partnership with Dorrit Harazim and Laura Greenhalgh. She was executive editor of Veja magazine until 2000. Since 2015 she has been part of the independent media collective Jornalistas Livres.