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.
Facts
Place of Origin Notable ExampleFear and Loathing in Las Vegas 1 Defining TraitWritten without claims of objectivity, first-person narrative 1 Defining Trait In the Other Atlases
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Gonzo journalism - Wikipedia
Introduction, sentence 2
The word "gonzo" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to describe an article about the Kentucky Derby by Hunter S. Thompson
Introduction, sentence 1
written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative
Hunter S. Thompson section
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas followed the Mint 400 piece in 1971
Lead paragraph
first used in 1970
Lead paragraph, defining sentence
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.
In Group: Creative and Narrative Nonfiction, Lead
a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity
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