Yep, a lot of organizations have a cultural taboo against telling the bosses bad news. The way one manager taught me: If it's good news, use plain language and big text. If it's bad news, soften it, shrink it, slather it with jargon, obfuscate it. Don't hide it but don't raise an alarm. Couch any unpleasant language with possible-this and unknown-that. Terrible advice but that's the way a lot of exec readouts work.