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Title: The subjective history of an idea
Review: David Mindich begins and ends his book with the assertion that objectivity, and the particular instance of journalistic objectivity, are myths that no one believes in outside of contemporary newsrooms. These inter-related assertions of opinion sandwich a historical analysis of how "objectivity" came to be the guiding ethic of American journalism. Unfortunately, apart from a glib reference to Jaques Derrida, and a terribly mistaken point on Albert Einstein, Mindich completely avoids addressing the considerable history of philosophical objectivity in the same historical time-frame. So we end up with a book about a profound philosophical issue reaching philosophical conclusions but absent any real philosophy. Irritating, yes - but also rather ironic: so inimical is "objectivity" to Mindich, he has to forgo any objective claim for the truth of what he says to prevent falling into self-contradiction. Ooops.
