Publisher suspends sales of journalist’s book after plagiarism review
New York Magazine said it updated 67 of Ross Barkan’s columns that did not include proper attribution. His Penguin Random House book on Mayor Zohran Mamdani was set for the fall.
Penguin Random House has suspended promotion and public sales of a forthcoming book by journalist Ross Barkan following allegations of extensive plagiarism in political columns he wrote as a freelancer for New York Magazine.
Related Knowledge Center: Information integrity
In an increasingly fractured media landscape, truth has been a casualty in the public discussion. Coverage has been warped by the business needs of struggling news organizations, and a significant segment of the public relies on bad-faith outlets that are little more than propagandists. While fact-checking has become routine, some organizations are exploring other ways to combat the trends. And misinformation spewed by AI-driven chatbots has become more of a feature than simply a bug.
Fact-checking and its detractors
Related Knowledge Center: Fact-checking and its detractors
Fact-checking has become a familiar tool for political reporters to hold office-holders and candidates accountable. But critics ask if fact-checkers sometimes miss the forest for the trees, and if the practice often struggles with false equivalency the way conventional political coverage does.