Gonzo

Gonzo journalism is a style that, instead of claiming objectivity, primarily just tells the story as the reporter sees it.

Hunter S Thompson, who coined the term, argued that in particular political pieces are too often reported with a pretense objectivity, where certain details would never make it to print for narrative reasons, even if it's things that writer and reader are both thinking.

So you might as well not pretend, and just be honest that you're reporting events plus opinions.

Might be energetic, first-person, in the moment, more energetic, raw, possibly unedited (so occasionally more objective in some details), and with a "well, this is how I see it view. The writer may be part of the story, possibly even the protagonist.

Also frequently associated with social critique and self-satire.

It later developed into a telling-it-like-it-is style of journalism, somewhat more refined than Thompson's, but for similar reasons, like that it's sometimes hard for the journalist to be objective, and it's hard for readers to judge whether the journalist is being objective, or whether the style and content were adjusted for the specific publication.

Gonzo other things

The above senses can be applied into other areas, with resulting meanings that vary per use. For example

• in more mainstream media, gonzo is often a twisted pretense at gonzo, because it sells.

Consider reality TV, which is often high steered and highly edited

• gonzo pornography - no prettification, just put the camera into the action, possibly by the actors themselves. No separation between camera as in cinema, in terms of storytelling or typically physical distance, and probably less editing. The

• gonzo politics or politicians - those who are rough and to their own point, without any pretense at balanced views