Question

Why is the passive voice acceptable, even desirable, in bad-news messages when it's considered poor, impersonal writing in most other situations?

Answer 1

The passive voice can be used in bad-news messages considering that in this case we can omit the name of the person performing the action. For example if we say "a solution to this problem should be found" we are giving importance to the object and the action instead of giving importance to the responsible of the problem.

Answer 2

Answer: Using the passive voice helps a person to remove a sense of personal identity or individual character in an action.

The passive voice is a form of a verb that is accompanied by a direct object in the active voice in which the subject receives the action.