n 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 them 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 60s, 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 isnt 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 facts, as they perceive them. One difference between gonzo journalist Thompson and new journalist Tom Wolfe is that while Wolfe tries to become the fly on the wall, Thompson is very much the fly in the ointment. HSTs writings cannot be taken 100% seriously, as even he admits. Basically its all true. I warped a few things, but basically thats the way it was Thompson said describing his second book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the heart of the American Dream (quotation found on book cover). If everyone took everything I said seriously they would be missing the whole point of gonzo journalism Thompson explains. Journalist John Sack illustrates a c...
