hardheadjarhead
Senior Master
See, I fail see how he was "a tremendous influence on American journalism culture" either. I guess that he just doesn't appeal to me as much as he seems to appeal to others. What exactly is a "gonzo journalist" anyway?
Oh, he was a tremendous influence...hence the movies, the portrayal of "Duke" in Doonesbury. The man was famous for his writing as well as his antics.
The term "Gonzo" was coined by Boston Globe reporter Bill Cardoso to describe Thompson's works. It is used both admiringly and as a pejorative. As Cardoso meant it, it was in the vein of the Boston slang version of the original meaning of the word, which described the last man standing after a drinking marathon.
For others "Gonzo" was a form of journalism where the writer can't remove himself from the subject of which he's writing. Thompson himself felt that objectivism in journalism was a myth. Even then, some thought he was too objective, oddly enough.
The Gonzo journalist will give a subjective slant to a story to get at the larger truth of the event. It blends the elements of novelistic writing in so as to capture moods. I'm not sure, but I think historian Barbara Tuchman was somewhat criticized for similar license.
The term now is generally used to describe a "tell it like it is" form of writing. it is considered an extension of "The New Journalism" championed by Tom Wolfe and George Plimpton. Some think P.J. O'Rourke is a Gonzo journalist.
The term also filtered into the porn industry, where the director of a movie would get from behind the camera and participate in the events on screen.
My source for all this was Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism
Regards,
Steve
Oh, he was a tremendous influence...hence the movies, the portrayal of "Duke" in Doonesbury. The man was famous for his writing as well as his antics.
The term "Gonzo" was coined by Boston Globe reporter Bill Cardoso to describe Thompson's works. It is used both admiringly and as a pejorative. As Cardoso meant it, it was in the vein of the Boston slang version of the original meaning of the word, which described the last man standing after a drinking marathon.
For others "Gonzo" was a form of journalism where the writer can't remove himself from the subject of which he's writing. Thompson himself felt that objectivism in journalism was a myth. Even then, some thought he was too objective, oddly enough.
The Gonzo journalist will give a subjective slant to a story to get at the larger truth of the event. It blends the elements of novelistic writing in so as to capture moods. I'm not sure, but I think historian Barbara Tuchman was somewhat criticized for similar license.
The term now is generally used to describe a "tell it like it is" form of writing. it is considered an extension of "The New Journalism" championed by Tom Wolfe and George Plimpton. Some think P.J. O'Rourke is a Gonzo journalist.
The term also filtered into the porn industry, where the director of a movie would get from behind the camera and participate in the events on screen.
My source for all this was Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism
Regards,
Steve
