A picture tells a story just as well as, if not better than, a lot of written words.
In March 1911, the Syracuse Advertising Men's Club held a banquet to discuss journalism and publicity. The author quoted Arthur Brisbane (not Tess Flanders as previously reported here and elsewhere) as saying: "Use a picture. It's worth a thousand words." In an article in the Printers' Ink, the same quote is attributed to Brisbane. A similar phrase, "One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words", appears in a 1913 newspaper advertisement for the Piqua Auto Supply House of Piqua, Ohio. Early use of the exact phrase appears in a 1918 newspaper advertisement for the San Antonio Light, which says: One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.