Formatting text next to images

I see this so often that I’m hoping it’s simple. I’d like to have text positioned to the right of thumbnail images, similar to some areas of this site: https://www.sfgate.com This is a commercial news site with a format that rarely changes.

There a couple of sections with the effect. One is under the “CITY BRIGHTS” section. There are pictures of some of the columnists with text to the right. Another example is the detail for the newspaper’s different sections such as entertainment, sports, etc.

To do this in WordPress, would it require using widgets (sidebar or footer) as opposed to content in a static page?

I’m relatively new to WP and I’m still getting a handle on where to add things, even if I can do find the style or html. Appreciate any help.