Gonzo Journalism

Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that abandons claims of objectivity, often placing the reporter inside the story as a first-person participant rather than a detached observer. It blends personal experience, emotion, and subjective reaction with social commentary and self-satire, favoring sarcasm, exaggeration, and profanity over the neutral tone of conventional reporting. The style originated in 1970 when Boston Globe editor Bill Cardoso applied the label to Hunter S. Thompson's article on the Kentucky Derby; Thompson himself rejected the pretense of journalistic neutrality, arguing that absolute truth was a rare and dangerous commodity in professional journalism. The form later influenced webzines and social media writing while keeping its unapologetically subjective, participatory voice.