WWF addresses the inevitable

Environmental disasters happen all the time: the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the recent Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in Quebec. But the public only really pays attention to the hazard of oil when things go very wrong.

So when the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project proposed to build twin pipelines from Alberta to the northern B.C. coast, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) decided to broadcast what "would" go wrong if it were built.

John St. helped WWF broadcast predictable disasters by creating the "Inevitable News Network." The Facebook-housed station uncovered the "inevitable" tragedy in "real" time for three weeks, with a cast of news team actors conducting live broadcasts from the Great Bear region. The reporters spoke with fictitious concerned citizens and native groups in the area and daily Facebook polls and tweets from followers were incorporated into nightly newscasts.

The campaign educated people about the real dangers the Northern Gateway Pipeline presented and was picked up by news outlets such as CTV News, MTV, Fast Company and the Huffington Post.