New York Magazine Writer Accused of Plagiarism, Again

"NPR Correspondent Bobby Allyn on Friday said he ran Barkan's work through an AI model to see if he had lifted work from other writers. Allyn said he was inspired to investigate after Barkan's pilfering of WaPo reporter Drew Harwell's May 9th report on Shapiro; Harwell called Barkan out on X for his NY Mag story which ran five days later having an almost identical first two paragraphs to his story in the Post."

"Allyn on Friday said his AI review showed Barkan had stolen from other writers as well. Allyn said Barkan had lifted several exact phrases from a 2025 report from The Intercept about TikTok, followed by another example with passages that were strikingly similar to a Compact report from last year. He showed side-by-side examples of what Compact report Juan David Rojas wrote in his story and what Barkan wrote in NY Mag."

"NY Magazine: The Trump administration authorized covert operations by the CIA in Venezuela, most likely ruling out continued diplomacy with President Nicolas Maduro. Compact: Trump administration authorized covert operations by the CIA in Venezuela after reportedly ruling out continued diplomacy with President Nicolas Maduro."

"Barkan defended himself in a response to Allyn, saying Juan is credited directly in that column, by name, and linked to. You could actually read the actual column and not rely on an AI-curated excerpt."

NPR correspondent Bobby Allyn investigated Ross Barkan’s writing after earlier plagiarism accusations involving a Washington Post report about Ben Shapiro. Allyn ran Barkan’s work through an AI model to check for lifted material from other writers. The earlier case involved Drew Harwell calling out near-identical opening paragraphs and reporting, followed by an update crediting Washington Post reporting. Allyn reported that the AI review found additional plagiarism, including exact phrases taken from a 2025 Intercept report about TikTok and passages similar to a Compact report from the prior year. Side-by-side comparisons showed closely matching wording about CIA covert operations in Venezuela and the likelihood of ruling out continued diplomacy with President Nicolas Maduro. Barkan responded by claiming attribution and links to credited reporting.

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