I once heard the saying "You never have a second chance to make a first impression" (Will Rogers). I find this saying to be simple yet truthful. When it comes to news, articles, and almost anything with a cover, it is almost inevitable not to judge said cover at first glance. Most people, when looking though news articles or anything of that sort, tend to give their attention to the ones that stand out immediately. Visual rhetoric is very important for any sort of headline or cover page. I was recently scrolling through Newseum and found two front pages with the headlines "Iraq War 2003-2011" and "Terrorist Attacks of Sept. 11, 2001." I immediately knew which one I wanted to click on based on their cover photos, this is the effect that visual rhetoric has on most people. One of the cover pages had a big explosion and one of them showed a statue that seemed to have been tipped over. Regardless of which article may be the most well written or even more trusted, based on my first impression, I was inclined to click on the one with the explosion, the one titled "Terrorist Attacks..." While both news articles included horrible events, the picture of the explosion immediately got the point across that something horrible had happened while the picture of the fallen statue did not. Anyone can have a very compelling story, but if they fail to have a captivating first impression, it won't matter.
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