A picture speaks louder than a thousand words, and our brain can understand illustrations clearly than words. So that's why stories in TV and newspapers are accompanied by more pictures than words for the sake of clarity and visualization. In my opinion, these photographs are more effective than merely written words.
First of all, the photograph is a handy tool to attract the target audience. People are desperately busy in this fast-paced world and they hardly have time to read the entire newspaper. If reporters can capture the essence of what they want to convey with a photograph, then audiences will most likely look at the picture and read a few lines to get the message. A fairly new study in my country reveals that more than 80% of newspaper and magazine readers look at the picture and heading to decide whether to read the news article or to skip it. They often give the pictures a cursory glance to get the message conveyed and do not have the time to read the whole stories. Secondly, pictures are used to epitomize situations. It is more likely difficult to imagine the predicament of hundreds of refugees. But people can comprehend a gaunt woman, with no food to feed her baby, looking at her infant starve. They can conjure up the despair of myriad refugees as their window of hope is shut in the face. No matter how hard we try, we will not be able to depict some events with only words.
Last but not least, pictures are used in pursuit of engagement. Written text alone, very often, is not that engaging. Which is why sometimes the written text is related to the context through the pictures. A single photograph, in many cases, is incredibly powerful, that can change public opinion dramatically. Photographs published in American newspaper during the Vietnam War exemplify how powerful they were and still are.
In conclusion, a picture is worth a thousand words and it is specifically true about the mass media. They are essential in media because they attract and engage the audience as well as outlines the situation in an easily understandable format. 
A  
picture
 speaks louder than a thousand words, and our brain can understand illustrations  
clearly
 than words.  
So
 that's why stories in TV and  
newspapers
  are accompanied
 by more  
pictures
 than words for the sake of clarity and visualization. In my opinion, these  
photographs
 are more effective than  
merely
 written words. 
First of all
, the  
photograph
 is a handy tool to attract the target audience.  
People
 are  
desperately
 busy in this  
fast
-paced  
world and
 they hardly have time to  
read
 the entire  
newspaper
. If reporters can capture the essence of what they want to convey with a  
photograph
, then audiences will most likely look at the  
picture
 and  
read
 a few lines to  
get
 the message. A  
fairly
 new study in my country reveals that more than 80% of  
newspaper
 and magazine readers look at the  
picture
 and heading to decide whether to  
read
 the news article or to skip it. They  
often
 give the  
pictures
 a cursory glance to  
get
 the message conveyed and do not have the time to  
read
 the whole stories.  
Secondly
,  
pictures
 are  
used
 to epitomize situations. It is more likely difficult to imagine the predicament of hundreds of refugees.  
But
  people
 can comprehend a gaunt woman, with no food to feed her baby, looking at her infant starve. They can conjure up the despair of myriad refugees as their window of hope  
is shut
 in the face. No matter how  
hard
 we try, we will not be able to depict  
some
  events
 with  
only
 words.
Last  
but
 not least,  
pictures
 are  
used
 in pursuit of engagement. Written text alone,  
very
  often
, is not that engaging. Which is why  
sometimes
 the written text  
is related
 to the context through the  
pictures
. A single  
photograph
, in  
many
 cases, is  
incredibly
 powerful, that can  
change
 public opinion  
dramatically
.  
Photographs
 published in American  
newspaper
 during the Vietnam War exemplify how powerful they were and  
still
 are. 
In conclusion
, a  
picture
 is worth a thousand words and it is  
specifically
 true about the mass media. They are essential in media  
because
 they attract and engage the audience  
as well
 as outlines the situation in an  
easily
 understandable format.