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AMERICANALMANAC (Charles McAdams) - New York Magazine drops columnist Ross Barkan after review flags plagiarism in 67 columns Sat Aug 15 16:42:35 2026

New York Magazine terminated its relationship with political columnist Ross Barkan after an independent editorial review found that 67 of his columns failed to properly attribute language and sourcing from other outlets. The magazine announced the decision Friday, releasing a statement that acknowledged the scope of the problem and apologized to the writers whose work […] The post New York Magazine drops columnist Ross Barkan after review flags plagiarism in 67 columns appeared first on American Almanac .

New York Magazine terminated its relationship with political columnist Ross Barkan after an independent editorial review found that 67 of his columns failed to properly attribute language and sourcing from other outlets. The magazine announced the decision Friday, releasing a statement that acknowledged the scope of the problem and apologized to the writers whose work Barkan had used without credit. Sixty-seven columns, more than a quarter of Barkan's roughly 250-piece tenure at the publication, were flagged and updated in the magazine's archives with proper attribution notes. The review's conclusion was blunt. New York Magazine, owned by Vox Media, said Barkan "did not adhere to our editorial standards" and that the publication would no longer carry his column. The magazine said it had already gone back through its archives to add the sourcing Barkan had left out, and pledged to address any additional instances that surface. A Washington Post reporter started the unraveling in May The trouble began when Drew Harwell, a Washington Post reporter, publicly accused Barkan of lifting material from one of his stories. The column in question covered Ben Shapiro and The Daily Wire. Harwell highlighted the similarities between his own reporting and Barkan's column on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. New York Magazine initially responded by updating the column with an editor's note crediting the Washington Post. Harwell later said he wasn't "entirely sure what happened." But the damage did not stop with one column. NPR correspondent Bobby Allyn dug further and found additional examples of Barkan apparently borrowing phrases and descriptions from The Intercept and Compact Magazine. Allyn described the pattern in specific terms: "The paragraphs in question are summarizing the historical background or context of the stories, with some instances containing the same 30 words in a row, or near identical passages with a word or phrase slightly tweaked." Thirty words in a row is not a coincidence. It is not sloppy note-taking. It is someone else's sentence showing up under your byline. Barkan denied plagiarism, then softened his tone When the allegations first surfaced, Barkan pushed back hard. He told Fox News Digital he "did not plagiarize anyone" and dismissed the accusations as "ridiculous." Months later, with 67 columns flagged and his column canceled, Barkan struck a different note. He told Fox News Digital: "We've decided to end the column and I send all the best to New York Magazine. In the course of nearly 250 pieces, there were times I should have been more careful with citation. I'm sorry about these errors and will work to do better, more careful in the future." The shift from "ridiculous" to "I should have been more careful" is worth noticing. It tracks a familiar pattern: deny first, concede quietly later, and frame the fallout as a mutual parting of ways rather than a firing. Barkan's ties to New York City's mayor add a political dimension Barkan was not just any columnist. The New York Post reported that Barkan had a close personal and political relationship with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who served as Barkan's campaign manager during a 2018 state senate bid. Barkan, in turn, became one of Mamdani's most prominent media boosters, writing favorably about the mayor from the pages of a major national magazine. That arrangement raises its own questions about editorial independence. A columnist with deep personal ties to a sitting mayor, writing political commentary at a flagship publication, is exactly the kind of conflict-of-interest arrangement that erodes reader trust, even before the plagiarism findings. Sixty-seven columns corrected, none retracted New York Magazine said it updated all 67 columns with proper attribution and added notes indicating the changes. The magazine did not say it retracted any of the pieces. The distinction matters. An update adds a credit line. A retraction pulls a story because the underlying work cannot stand on its own. Whether 67 attribution failures across roughly 250 columns warranted something stronger than corrections is a question the magazine left unanswered. So is the nature of the "independent editorial review" itself, who conducted it, what methodology they used, and whether the review examined every one of Barkan's columns or only those flagged by outside reporters. Vox Media, New York Magazine's parent company, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Already planning his next act Barkan has not retreated from public life. He announced plans to launch a new column in September, though he did not specify where it would appear. He also indicated he would continue contributing to The Nation. The speed of the pivot is notable. A columnist caught lifting passages from at least three other publications, the Washington Post, The Intercept, and Compact Magazine, across dozens of columns is not taking a period of reflection. He is moving on to the next platform. Media institutions spend years building credibility and can lose it in a single editorial failure. When the people entrusted with holding the powerful accountable cannot even bother to write their own sentences, readers are right to wonder what else those institutions are willing to let slide. The post New York Magazine drops columnist Ross Barkan after review flags plagiarism in 67 columns appeared first on American Almanac .