Gonzo Journalism

Gonzo journalism is a subjective, observational style of journalism reported in a first person narrative.

After reading The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved, Bill Cardoso, editor of The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, said in a letter to Hunter S. Thompson, "It's totally gonzo." The 1970 magazine article was transcribed from notes Hunter S. Thompson had scrawled in a haze of alcohol and drugs, but Hunter embraced the term and gonzo journalism was born.¹

Fast Facts

1. Emerged from New Journalism, a combination of creative writing and journalism championed by Truman Capote, Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe²
2. 1970: Bill Cardoso, editor of The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, describes Hunter S. Thompson's article, The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved as "totally gonzo"³
3. Gonzo journalists are noted for their excess and frequent vulgarity⁴

Examples of Gonzo Journalism

1. Hunter S Thompson: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
2. PJ O'Rourke: Holidays in Hell
3. Michael Moore: Bowling for Columbine
4. Morgan Spurlock: Super Size Me

Quotes

…Gonzo Journalism. It is a style of “reporting” based on William Faulkner’s idea that the best fiction is far more true than journalism – and the best journalists have always known this. ⁵—Hunter S. Thompson, The Great Shark Hunt

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