Columnist Ross Barkan Apologizes Amid Plagiarism Scandal

A creeping online scandal about the work of a prominent journalist is cascading into a professional reckoning.

The writer, Ross Barkan, was accused by reporters and online sleuths of plagiarizing work and failing to credit other journalists, triggering reviews of his writing for New York magazine, Gothamist, The Nation, The New York Times Magazine and The Times’s opinion section.

Again and again, he pushed back. But New York magazine investigated the claims and last week cut ties with him. This week, his publisher suspended a forthcoming book about Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, and The Nation said it was also conducting an internal review.

On Wednesday, Mr. Barkan, 36, apologized, saying he would take a break from writing amid the fallout.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/business/media/ross-barkan-plagiarism-apology.html