Companies in the midst of a crisis, as Blackridge Strategy appears to be, should get in front of the story and control the narrative before others do it for them, a strategist for a leading Canadian PR firm says.

But neither of the co-owners of Blackridge, Jake Skinner and Amir Farahi, have spoken publicly since court documents released last week linked Farahi with smear websites that went up during the fall municipal election campaign.

"Ideally, you want to be in the first news cycle explaining your side of the story. Whatever the explanation is, you want that to be in the story so you're helping to shape it, not allowing others in that vacuum to shape it," said Mike Van Soelen, a principal with Navigator.

Since the documents were released, several former clients, including Mayor Ed Holder, said they would no longer do business with the firm.

"As the days go by, it will be harder and harder to balance the playing field as to how the conversation is taking shape. It's sort of like cement — the narrative starts to set over time."

'Good reputation'

Jake Skinner and Amir Farahi own Blackridge Strategy. (facebook.com and twitter.com)

Blackridge Strategy arrived in London with a bang, seemingly overnight taking on aspects of the municipal election campaigns of about a dozen council and mayoral candidates.

Clients included almost half of the current sitting city council, plus the mayor.

It's sort of like cement — the narrative starts to set over time." - Mike Van Soelen, Navigator

Blackridge came with a reputation for getting things done, said Ward 10 Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen.

"I hired these people because they had a good reputation for their ability to do Facebook and web pages, which is something I lack in. It makes sense that I hired them," Van Meerbergen said.

Other councillors echoed that sentiment, saying Blackridge worked on their websites, social media presence, and robocalls.

The candidates had one thing in common in their platforms — they were all staunchly opposed to London's bus rapid transit plan.

Back in October, co-owner Farahi gave one television interview when two negative websites emerged, maureencassidy.ca and virginiaridley.ca. At the time, he said he had nothing to do with them and was a victim of fraud.

But the two women attacked in those websites hired London lawyer Susan Toth who managed to have the court release documents Thursday that show Farahi's name, cell phone number, credit card and address were linked to the two websites.

He hasn't spoken publicly since, and neither has his business partner, Skinner. Skinner is also a school board trustee.

'Control the narrative'

As a PR strategy, going underground isn't a very good one, said Van Soelen.

"That can be difficult. Your lawyer might say don't say anything, but your communication counsel might say, you have to explain your side of the story. But as a strategy, should you disappear and not tell your side? No, of course not, because other people will walk into that vacuum and tell the story on your behalf, and that probably won't be to your advantage," Van Soelen said.

Numerous calls to Farahi haven't been returned.

Skinner said Friday Blackridge is working with lawyers and won't comment until Monday or Tuesday — five or six days since the scandal broke.

Blackridge clients on council

Here's who hired Blackridge Strategy to work on aspects of their campaign: