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If someone tried to do poiltical journalism like Hunter S. Thompson today, I'd bet they would probably get hauled in front of congress for a struggle session, a
by motohagiography 3y ago
If someone tried to do poiltical journalism like Hunter S. Thompson today, I'd bet they would probably get hauled in front of congress for a struggle session, a journalistic cashiering from party personalities, and some terrible random luck from the bureaucracy just to make an example.
I wonder what changed about the world where the tradition of writers like Thompson, Hitchens, Vidal, Hemmingway, Menken, Bierce, and others with humour and moral courage just aren't a part of mainstream discourse.
- dfxm12 3y agoConservative corporate media moguls like Rupert Murdoch have since mostly consolidated news outlets.
- superb-owl 3y agoI couldn't disagree more! Vice, for one, has basically commodified HST-style journalism. They have a whole show where a guy just tries different drugs [1] And you can find all sorts of heterodox political and cultural takes in both mainstream news and the blogosphere, as well as the huge continuum of media between them. The problem isn't that these writers don't exist anymore (or that they're being somehow silenced by congress). The problem is there's no mainstream culture anymore, and therefore there's no place for counterculture to consolidate. Instead we have a bunch of people shouting different things into voids of various sizes. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton%27s_Pharmacopeia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton%27s_Pharmacopeia
- boredumb 3y agoVice doing drugs and writing blogs for young adults is not akin to gonzo journalism.
- snapcaster 3y agoHow is it different? I am a huge Hunter S. Thompson fan but I don't think anything he did was any more important than "writing for young people and doing drugs"
- motohagiography 3y agoVice was a business that commercialized writing about drugs and providing a sympathetic lap for the resentful and demoralized. They had one good science writer that the whole scheme hinged on. HST's personal style changed journalism. He brought the techniques of insight from literary fiction to reportage, along with Thomas Wolfe, and the generation that followed.
- skyyler 3y agoJournalism was supposed to be objective, gonzo journalism is inherently not. Making the author a character in the story is the opposite of what a good journalist is to do… Kids taking journalism classes might get to hear about Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72 (through The Boys on the Bus) and I think there’s a little bit more to that than just writing for young people and doing drugs.
- dfxm12 3y agoThere's good writing and there's bad writing. Without getting into specific articles, if "Gonzo Journalism" or "New Journalism" is what it takes to inform some people, that's good journalism. It's like the Daily Show & Colbert Report. An old (2004) study [0] showed that Daily Show & Colbert Report viewers were the more knowledgeable about national and international affairs compared to people who consumed Google news, CNN or Fox News. 0 - https://archive.thinkprogress.org/survey-daily-show-colbert-viewers-most-knowledgable-fox-news-viewers-rank-lowest-854e2c6d917d/ https://archive.thinkprogress.org/survey-daily-show-colbert-...
- splitstud 3y ago[dead]
- georgeecollins 3y agoI think you are too cynical about Vice and too kind to HST.
- morkalork 3y agoWhat would you call this? I'd say it meets the bar for gonzo: https://www.vice.com/en/article/43jp9d/we-found-evidence-of-cocaine-use-in-the-house-of-commons https://www.vice.com/en/article/43jp9d/we-found-evidence-of-...
- DougEiffel 3y agoJon Ronson has written several incredible books that all qualify as Gonzo Journalism. The only one I didn't like very much was the one about the adult film industry. The Psychopath Test So You've Been Publicly Shamed Them: Adventures with Extremists All great books and even better audiobooks that you'll like I think.
- JasserInicide 3y agoVice had some interesting endeavors a decade ago. Now they're just another partisan outrage rag
- AlbertCory 3y agoThe people he named were real writers. The ones you named would be making lattes if not for Vice etc.
- derefr 3y agoYou described gonzo journalism, and political journalism, but not gonzo political journalism — which is what the GP poster is saying doesn’t exist any more.
- bschne 3y agoI recently came across Michael Hastings, whom I hadn't heard of before (living in Europe), but alas he passed away quite early. This sort of journalism seems to be a rare thing, but also not dead by a long shot. See e.g. this on Gen. McChrystal and Afghanistan -- https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-runaway-general-the-profile-that-brought-down-mcchrystal-192609/ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-runa...
- paddw 3y agoIf someone tried to do political journalism like Hunter S. Thompson today, they would struggle to find the same sort of characters, because the Internet has collectively made us much more cautious about and accountable for how we interact with others. Present literary journalistic techniques critique through insinuation and juxtaposition. HST just had to go places and let people talk.
- wolverine876 3y ago> the Internet has collectively made us much more cautious about and accountable for how we interact with others. That's a pretty shocking claim. I'd say it's quite the opposite.
- StrangeATractor 3y agoIt's a mixed bag. Everything you do IRL gets photographed and uploaded by your friends without your consent for future potential employers to scour through, Twitter becoming the whole world's HR department, your name, address and employer readily available with a Google search, etc. I basically don't post too many opinions unless I'm on an alt account, and I'm considering tor for that going forward.
- standardUser 3y agoThere's a give and take here. As more people are bold about how they express themselves, companies inevitably become more accepting of different types of expression. I've seen a massive shift from the 80's to today in what's acceptable for different types of jobs. There is always some risk for being on the edge of that trend, and we should be grateful to those who take those risks for making it easier for the rest of us.
- wolverine876 3y agoA mixed bag? Is there anywhere in the history of humanity with more extreme and unaccountable behavior than the Internet?
- Yahivin 3y agoBrandon Buckingham is a modern day Hunter S. Thompson. There are probably hundreds of other YouTubers doing similar things but we haven't heard about them yet because they are at the beginning of their career and Hunter is past the end.
- smcl 3y agoIn front of congress? Why?
- AnimalMuppet 3y agoYou read this article, and you see moral courage? I sure don't.
- tokai 3y agoYou should read up on the journal this was published in. Seems like there wasn't much temperament for this kind of political journalism back then either.
- Yardsale420 3y agoI feel like Robert Evans is a pretty close replacement, albeit an updated version for the 21st century. For his book “A Brief History on Vice” he talks about the drugs that shaped our early culture, and then tried those drugs while trying to remain as authentic to the traditional uses as he possibly could.