Most crisis communications plans pass the basic audit. Holding statements, spokesperson protocols, media contact lists, escalation procedures. The structural elements are there.
What is typically absent is any meaningful guidance for the platforms where public perception now forms first — before the press call, before the statement, often before leadership is even aware there is a situation to manage.
This is not a failure of effort. Crisis documentation in the public sector takes time to develop, requires sign-off from legal and leadership, and is difficult to revise once approved. The problem is that many plans still describe an information environment that has shifted significantly since they were written. Communities no longer wait for a press conference to form a view.