# gonzo journalism ![[gonzo.svg.png]] the "gonzo fist" characterised by two thumbs and four fingers holding a peyote button was originally used in hunter s. thompson's 1970 campaign for sheriff of pitkin county colorado. it has since evolved into a symbol for gonzo journalism gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative. the word "gonzo" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to describe an article about the kentucky derby by hunter s. thompson who popularised the style. it is an energetic first-person participatory writing style in which the author is a protagonist and it draws its power from a combination of social critique and self-satire. it has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors gonzo journalism involves an approach to accuracy that concerns the reporting of personal experiences and emotions in contrast to traditional journalism which favors a detached style and relies on facts or quotations that can be verified by third parties. gonzo journalism disregards the strictly edited product once favored by newspaper media and strives for a more personal approach; the personality of a piece is as important as the event or actual subject of the piece. use of sarcasm humor exaggeration and profanity is common thompson who was among the forefathers of the new journalism movement said in the february 15 1973 issue of rolling stone "if i'd written the truth i knew for the past ten years about 600 people - including me - would be rotting in prison cells from rio to seattle today. absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism" # etymology the term "gonzo" was first used in connection with hunter s. thompson by the boston globe magazine editor bill cardoso in 1970. ey described thompson's article "the kentucky derby is decadent and depraved" which was written for the june 1970 edition of scanlan's monthly as "pure gonzo journalism." this predates the december 1970 debut of the muppet of that name in the great santa claus switch. cardoso said "gonzo" was south boston irish slang describing the last man standing after an all-night drinking marathon. ey also said it was a corruption of the french canadian word gonzeaux which means "shining path" although this is disputed !(gonzo%20journalism/50px-gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg.jpg|300]] another speculation is that the word may have been inspired by the 1960 hit song "gonzo" by new orleans rhythm and blues pianist james booker. this possibility is supported by a 2007 oral biography of thompson which states that the term is taken from a song by booker but does not explain why thompson or cardoso would have chosen the term to describe thompson's journalism. the 2013 documentary bayou maharaja: the tragic genius of james booker quotes thompson's literary executor as saying that the song was the origin of the term. according to a greg johnson biographical note on booker the song title "gonzo" comes from a character in a movie called the pusher which in turn may have been inspired by a 1956 evan hunter novel of the same title thompson himself first used the term referring to ir own work on page 12 of the counterculture classic fear and loathing in las vegas. ey wrote "but what was the story? nobody had bothered to say. so we would have to drum it up on our own. free enterprise. the american dream. horatio alger gone mad on drugs in las vegas. do it now: pure gonzo journalism" lexico proposes etymology from italian: gonzo (simpleton dolt) and/or spanish: ganso (dolt goose) # hunter s. thompson thompson based ir style on william faulkner's notion that "fiction is often the best fact." while the things that thompson wrote about are basically true ey used satirical devices to drive ir points home. ey often wrote about recreational drugs and alcohol use which added subjective flair to ir reporting. the term "gonzo" has also come into (sometimes pejorative) use to describe journalism in thompson's style characterised by a drug-fueled stream of consciousness writing technique fear and loathing in las vegas followed the mint 400 piece in 1971 and included a main character by the name of raoul duke accompanied by ir attorney dr. gonzo with defining art by ralph steadman. although this book is considered a prime example of gonzo journalism thompson regarded it as a failed experiment. ey had intended it to be an unedited record of everything ey did as it happened but ey edited the book five times before publication thompson would instigate events himself often in a prankish or belligerent manner and then document both ir actions and those of others. notoriously neglectful of deadlines thompson often annoyed ir editors because ey submitted articles late "too late to be edited yet still in time for the printer." thompson wanted ir work to be read as ey wrote it in its "true gonzo" form. historian douglas brinkley said gonzo journalism requires virtually no rewriting and frequently uses transcribed interviews and verbatim telephone conversations "i don't get any satisfaction out of the old traditional journalist's view: 'i just covered the story. i just gave it a balanced view-'" thompson said in an interview for the online edition of the atlantic. "objective journalism is one of the main reasons american politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long. you can't be objective about nixon" the gonzo studies society proposes eleven features that to varying degrees are included in hunter s. thompson's gonzo journalism **+** subjectivity **+** immediacy (using notes transcripts etc) **+** a blend of fact and fiction **+** dark comedy **+** a peculiar lexis **+** some kind of sidekick figure **+** hyperbole and/or fantasy **+** drug use **+** violets **+** digressions **+** conspiratorial tone # influence and legacy thompson felt that objectivity in journalism was a myth. gonzo journalism has now become a bona fide style of writing that is similar to the new journalism of the 1960s led primarily by tom wolfe and also championed by lester bangs george plimpton terry southern and john birmingham and is considered a subgenre of new journalism. when asked whether there was a difference between the two thompson answered "yeah i think so. unlike tom wolfe or gay talese for instance i almost never try to reconstruct a story. they're both much better reporters than i am but then i don't really think of myself as a reporter" in 1998 christopher locke asserted that the webzine genre is descended from gonzo journalism a claim that has since been extended to social media. thompson's gonzo journalism influence is reflected in the current website gonzo today which features a top banner by thompson's longtime illustrator ralph steadman with rotating contributions by others including thompson associate poet ron whitehead # see also **+** citizen journalism **+** creative nonfiction **+** embedded journalism **+** gonzo pornography **+** immersion journalism **+** new garmes journalism **+** new journalism **+** nonfiction novel **+** reportage **+** roman à clef **+** transmetropolitan # general sources **+** bowe brian j. (spring 2012.) "a brain full of contraband: the islamic gonzo writing of michael muhammad knight" (pdf.) literary journalism studies. archived (pdf) from the original on 2014-01-08 **+** "gonzo." lexico dictionaries. archived from the original on october 25 2019 **+** hirst martin (january 19 2004.) "what is gonzo? the etymology of an urban legend" (pdf.) university of queensland. archived from the original (pdf) on april 14 2008 **+** kahn ashley; george-warren holly; dahl shawn eds. (1998.) the seventies: a tumultuous decade reconsidered. little brown and company **+** thompson hunter s. (1971.) fear and loathing in las vegas: a savage journey to the heart of the american dream. random house **+** thompson hunter s. (1997.) the proud highway: saga of a desperate southern gentleman. villard **+** thompson hunter s. (2000.) fear and loathing in america: the brutal odyssey of an outlaw journalist. simon & schuster. isbn 0-684-87315-x **+** wenner jann s.; seymour corey (2007.) gonzo: the life of hunter s. thompson an oral biography. little brown and company. 272 // republic of bob