Hunter S. Thompson helped establish Gonzo journalism as a highly personal form of reporting.

Thompson’s reporting placed his own voice, instincts, and misadventures inside the story rather than keeping him behind an invisible professional curtain. His work on the Hells Angels and his later writing about American politics and culture made that approach famous. In this style, the writer is not simply recording events. The writer becomes part of the pressure system being observed, turning journalism into something closer to lived narrative.