It’s not a recent trend. It’s how things have been and are. My best explanation is that it’s a holdover from when print space was limited, so articles simply d

It’s not a recent trend. It’s how things have been and are. My best explanation is that it’s a holdover from when print space was limited, so articles simply don’t show and only tell. When they do add a picture in print, it’s usually to grab attention or signal that this is an important article.