Readers don't like reversed out type. Well, many editors don't. And I am sure that readers would probably find it unusual and hard to read if an entire article were set in white type against a black or color background. However, a few lines of a quote or a highlight set against a dark background will not affect legibility as long as the type size is larger than normal and the interline spacing is adequate. Color must be introduced slowly.
Life is in color.
Attempts at a slow introduction of color in a newspaper that may have been entirely black and white for years are quite exaggerated. In this regard, one must respect the editors' knowledge of their own communities and their readers' ability to assimilate change. What is important, and this must be emphasized, is that color use be appropriate for the newspaper and its community. Italics are difficult to read. Every editor seems to have a built-in catalog of anecdotes to illustrate why italics should never be used.