Ross Barkan Apologizes Following Plagiarism Allegations
Former New York Magazine writer and Metropolitan Review editor-in-chief, Ross Barkan, has once again apologized after facing several plagiarism allegations. On Wednesday, he announced plans to take a break for self-reflection. In a message shared on X, he expressed remorse for mistakes in his work.
“Let me first begin by saying I’m sorry. I truly am sorry for the mistakes I made,” wrote Barkan. “None of them, genuinely, were willful or intentional. In the course of writing many columns a week, I did not use citations as aggressively as I should have and did not paraphrase well enough. I never intended to crib from anyone’s work. I promise all of you that. I recognize, though, how I failed. I am sorry to the journalists whose work I did not properly cite.”
Barkan clarified that he intends to “take some time away and self-reflect.” He committed to improving in the future.
The issue first surfaced in May when Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell accused Barkan of replicating his report about conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and The Daily Wire. Similarities between the two articles prompted New York Magazine to update its piece, adding an editor’s note for The Washington Post.
Bobby Allyn from NPR also found instances where Barkan reportedly used phrases and descriptions from The Intercept and Compact Magazine. Initially, Barkan denied the accusations, calling them “ridiculous.” However, New York Magazine announced they would sever ties with Barkan after an investigation confirmed that he failed to meet editorial standards.
New York Magazine’s statement obtained by Semafor outlined that 67 columns were updated for proper attribution. “After an independent editorial review, New York found that Ross Barkan did not adhere to our editorial standards, and we have updated 67 columns that did not include proper attribution of language, information, and/or sourcing,” the statement read. They pledged to add proper attribution in all stories found inadequate during their review.
Barkan, in a statement to Fox News Digital, expressed regret for the citation errors and intended future diligence in sourcing.