Lost in translation: News Machine's tweet message

Italy – The News Machine, a new art installation created for the latest issue of Colors magazine by Fabrica – Bennetton’s communications research centre –simulates the idea of 24-hour global news by recreating tweets and sending them through a variety of mediums.

New platforms and behaviour are replacing traditional media, enabling the consumer rather than the publisher or broadcaster to be in control, as we reported in our Transmedia Futures macrotrend.

The installation uses a tape recorder to convert a tweet into sound, which is then turned into text and displayed on a monitor. It is then filmed and converted into a radio message, which is broadcast by radio antenna, converted into text and printed as a headline.

The machine explores the spread of misinformation in the media by demonstrating how news can be distorted at different stages of the production process.