Telum Media spoke to Chris Vedelago, Law and Justice Editor at The Age, about the challenges he has faced throughout his career and the most memorable crime story he has covered.

Tell us about your area of scope as Law and Justice Editor at The Age.
Most of my time is spent reporting on the activities of the police and Melbourne’s criminal underworld. This includes covering active investigations into drug trafficking syndicates, gang violence, police corruption or trends in criminal offending, as well as the legal proceedings that result, such as court hearings and criminal trials. It means being able to deal with everyone from victims of crimes to public servants to politicians to criminal suspects and their lawyers, each of which needs to be handled in particular ways. 

I also help run a team of three other reporters, helping decide what to cover and how to cover it.

You have previously covered investigations, business, and property for The Age. What have been some of the challenges associated with each round?
Getting to speak to the right people who have the information we need is always the hardest obstacle, because we’re often talking about information that people - for various reasons - don’t want to disclose because it’s sensitive, or they are concerned about repercussions. This goes for property stories as much as crime stories. Nobody wants to be part of a “bad” or “negative” news story, so getting people to talk is always a big ask.

One of the most time-consuming aspects of the job (across any of the rounds I’ve covered) is sifting through the massive amount of information and data that’s available; legal documents like transcripts or evidence that run to thousands of pages; dense reports prepared by government agencies or other organisations; enormous statistical datasets and very technical financial reports. Synthesising this material for readers often means finding the right kind of expert contact.

What is the most memorable story you have covered to date?
There is an underworld war going on at the moment in Melbourne, which has resulted in dozens of firebombings and several suspected shootings and murders. One of the suspected incidents in the war was an attempted theft of the corpse of the sister and business partner of a major crime boss as part of a revenge plot. Easily the most bizarre, disturbing, and memorable story I have covered in more than 17 years.

What's in your journalist toolkit?
My number one tool is the list of contacts I’ve built up over the course of my career. I’ve kept every phone number and email address of anyone I’ve ever spoken to going back to 2006 because you never know when it might come in handy. There have been times where I've called someone I haven't spoken to in a decade, when they suddenly become potentially relevant to something I'm working on, so it's also important that I've left these people with a favourable impression.

Any advice for PR professionals looking to pitch journalists?
Really target what you’re doing - make sure the journalist you’re pitching to actually works in the subject area. When I get unsolicited pitches from people who clearly have no idea I work in the crime and justice space, I just delete the email and classify the email address or distribution list as spam. Don’t oversell. Be really clear about what you can deliver. We’re pretty good at being able to detect when something is being puffed up. And understand that the angle you are pitching or the level of cooperation you’re hoping for might end up very differently in the end product. No journalist worth their salt will take what you're offering at face value or uncritically.