Diary of an exposé
An AD exposé may take months of gathering evidence and planning, or we may have to respond as a story unfolds.
15.3.00: The Ads receive news of Tom Rider leaving Chipperfield Enterprises. We provide The Daily Mirror with video, photographs and facts concerning Chipperfield Enterprises and interview Tom Rider.
16.3.00: AD Field Officers prepare to fly to Germany to gather evidence. Other AD personnel meet Tom Rider for a four hour recorded interview which concludes at 11pm.
17-19.3.00: 5am, a SID briefing reviews site plans for the circus in Germany and information from Tom Rider. AD Field Officers then fly to Germany to film, photograph and interview staff. The Campaigns and PR departments field questions from the Mirror and prepare a follow up campaign.
20.3.00: The story appears in the Daily Mirror. AD supporter Services receive 500 calls from concerned members of the public. The Campaigns Department works on the follow up campaign, possible political action and sets up a legal complaint with the German authorities. We film an interview with Tom Rider and edit this with footage of conditions at Chipperfield Enterprises, and Dicky Chipperfield hitting animals. 10pm, AD Field Officers arrive from Germany and film of the elephants is added to video.
21.3.00: 3am the video is complete and copied. AD PR distribute this to the media, leading to regional and Sky TV news coverage. The German media are contacted and a second feature appears in the Mirror. Legal inquiries continue and tapes of conversations with workers at circus Barelli in Germany are studied. We continue to receive calls and enquiries are supplied with a campaign pack. Protest postcards are prepared.
22.3.00: Tom Rider returns to the USA. He is met by an AD representative. The Performing Animal Welfare Society are in the process of a prosecution of another of Tom’s former employers, Ringling Brothers Circus – he is interviewed in relation to this. A media campaign is launched and circus suffering goes into the spotlight on the other side of the Atlantic.