Hunter S. Tompson and Gonzo Journalism Essay - 1931 Words

Hunter S. Tompson and Gonzo Journalism In the late sixties a young journalist and free-lance novelist named Hunter S. Thompson (HST) emerged with a new, crazed and exaggerated brand of reporting. It was sooner or later referred to as â€Å"Gonzo†. HST’s own definition of gonzo has varied over the years, but he still maintains that a good gonzo journalist â€Å"needs the talent of a master journalist, the eye of an artist/photographer and the heavy balls of an actor† and that gonzo is a â€Å"style of reporting based on William Faulkner’s idea that the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism†(Carroll, page 192). Gonzo journalism has also been referred to as outlaw journalism, new journalism, alternative journalism, literary†¦show more content†¦Steadman’s work will be found on the title page to this essay). As the deadline for the article approached, and with the article still incomplete, HST resorted to ripping out pages of his notebook and sending the m to the editors. What resulted was the beginning of gonzo journalism. Many see gonzo journalism to be a variation of a theme, which began with new journalism in the 60’s, led primarily by author Tom Wolfe. (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, etc.) New Journalism was said to have broken all the rules of traditional journalism. The old style journalists were supposed to take an objective point of view in their articles. The new journalists were far more subjective, getting personally involved in the stories they were reporting. New journalism really isn’t new at all. Objectivity has been the great myth of journalism. As hard as media sources try to be objective, they can never truly achieve it. Everything from space limitations (a journalist must decide what is and what is not important enough to fit into a column) to illustrations (this gives readers a non-objective picture in their head about the issue) infringe on objectivity. New journalism and gonzo journalism alike pay no regard to the objectivity laws of journalism and instead focus their works very little on the facts but on the â€Å"facts†, as they