Understatement

John and I were listening to the BBC Newshour this morning on our way to work.  A news story led off with,

“As you know, reporting in Sri Lanka is notoriously difficult.”

That statement alone, from the British newsreader (and when I replay it in my head now, I hear John Cleese), was enough to make us start giggling.  (If you need me to explain just why we thought that was funny, ask me in the comments.)  Next, the announcer said something like (I don’t remember the exact statistic, except that it was high), “one in ten members of the media have been shot and killed in recent months.” And then the opening statement became the understatement of the week.  It is rather difficult to report when you’re dead.  And, because we’re not totally heartless, it became a little less funny.