New York magazine says it is reviewing the past work of a contract writer after several of his recent pieces were found to contain passages closely matching other published reporting. The inquiry follows accusations that Ross Barkan lifted language from multiple outlets while writing columns for the magazine.
The controversy began this week when a column by Barkan about conservative commentator Ben Shapiro echoed wording from an earlier Washington Post story by Drew Harwell. After the similarity was flagged on social media, New York magazine revised Barkan’s piece to include a direct quotation from Harwell’s reporting; the outlet says it is now reviewing the writer’s prior work.
NPR identified at least two other instances where Barkan’s columns appear to have incorporated large chunks of text from reporting published elsewhere, including pieces in The Intercept and Compact Magazine. Some of the contested passages summarize background material and contain near-identical stretches of text — in some cases about 30 words in a row — with only minor changes.
Matthew Schmitz, editor of Compact Magazine, publicly called one of the articles “heavily plagiarized” and urged New York magazine to address the portions he said were appropriated. New York magazine spokesperson Lauren Starke told NPR, “We are conducting a review of the writer’s prior work.”
Barkan has not denied relying on other reporting. He has defended his approach by noting that he included hyperlinks to the original pieces and, in at least one instance, named the journalist whose reporting he used. Barkan wrote on social media that he believes citing facts and crediting the originating reporter is permissible when building on another writer’s work, and in an emailed statement he called the accusations “quite ridiculous,” adding that he stands by his record.
Journalism scholars say there is a line between reporting that independently summarizes the same facts and reproducing another reporter’s phrasing without clear attribution. Edward Wasserman, a journalism professor at UC Berkeley, said while similar turns of phrase can happen when writers cover the same events, presenting significant portions of another author’s text word-for-word without quotation marks or clear acknowledgment is generally considered plagiarism and undermines the publication.
Barkan, 36, is a prolific columnist and contributor to several outlets, including Crain’s New York and The New York Times. He ran unsuccessfully in a 2018 Democratic primary for New York state senate. He published two books last year, has a forthcoming book due in October about New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and recently released a novel titled Colossus.
New York magazine’s review is ongoing as the publication assesses whether its standards of attribution were met and what, if any, corrections or other actions are warranted.