Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, a mediator can assist the recipient of bad news to work productively with the new information.  Bad news is information that a party does not want to hear.  It necessarily involves a challenge to her or his hopes or expectations.  As such, bad news always involves a sense of loss with respect to the contrary and previously held hopes or expectations.  As an instance of loss, bad news necessarily triggers a grieving process, which according to the classic view (Dr. Kubler-Ross) involves the phases of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.