COLORS magazine reports news with a revolutionary twist

Photo: Martina Zaninelli

On the festival’s opening day, the editor of Colors magazine, Patrick Waterhouse, presented some of the  magazine’s groundbreaking work. This interactive magazine reveals a potential future for print publications in the age of social media.

Each edition of the magazine is dedicated to a single topic, from transportation to journalism, which the magazine explores through diverse mediums and perspectives. Rather than focus on getting the “scoop,” these long form multimedia pieces focus on process, deconstruction, context and meaning behind news stories. Many articles come with simple step-by-step guides, walking readers through the process of making their own version of the innovations or work featured in the article. Colors is about understanding, not merely reporting. In the case of breaking news, articles in Colors magazine often frame the media coverage of the event itself, exploring international reactions and the way that mass media can misrepresent complex realities on the ground.

Photo: Pietro Viti

The latest edition of the magazine explores this concept in detail, featuring a “behind the scenes” look at making news.

Waterhouse believes that transparency is crucial to effective journalism.

“The important thing is to be transparent about where money comes from. It has a profound effect on news-making,” Waterhouse said.

He believes that crowd funding has incredible potential for independent journalists.

“I saw an successful example of in Holland. Crowd funding is difficult, but it is really great if it works,” he said.

As part of this current issue, the festival hosted the debut of the COLOR’s interactive installation, designed by Jonathan Chomko. It is called “The News Machine.”

This robotic installation takes tweets addressed to @colorsmachine, from all over the world, and broadcasts them through radio, print, television broadcast and more, then it reveals how the original message was distorted through the process. The New Machine is open to the public, located in Perugia’s Spazio Cantrelli, Piazza della Repubblica, from April 24 to 28.

Leigh Cuen