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. And, last, italics slow down the reading, so avoid them in text. Italics are unisex. A feature in sports can wear italics well, but so can that souffle story in the food section. A banner headline in a strong italic font played large will be able to do the job as well as a Roman headline.