Ross Barkan

Ross Barkan
Born
Ross Elliot Barkan

(1989-10-22) October 22, 1989 (age 35)
New York City, U.S.
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • novelist
  • political candidate
Years active2011–present

Ross Elliot Barkan (born October 22, 1989[1][2][3]) is an American journalist, novelist, and essayist.

Early life and education

Barkan grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He attended Stony Brook University and earned a master's degree from New York University.[4][5]

Career

Journalist

Barkan was a staff reporter at the Queens Tribune.[6] He covered New York City and national politics for the New York Observer from 2013 to 2016.[7] In April 2016, he rose to prominence after resigning from the Observer over the newspaper's close relationship with Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate.[8][9][10] The Observer's executive editor, Ken Kurson, revealed in a magazine interview he advised Trump on a speech the candidate delivered before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Announcing his resignation the day after the Observer endorsed Trump in the New York Republican primary, Barkan later told CNN "a line had been crossed and I thought it was time for myself to depart."[11]

As a columnist and freelance reporter, Barkan has contributed to the Village Voice, The Guardian, The Washington Post,[12] The New Yorker,[13] The New York Times, The Nation,[14] Reuters, Esquire, GQ, New York Daily News, Daily Beast, The Baffler,[15] the Los Angeles Review of Books, and the Columbia Journalism Review. He covered the 2013 New York City mayoral race, including Anthony Weiner's campaign, and the 2016 presidential race. He has taught journalism and media studies at NYU[16] and St. Joseph's College in Brooklyn. He was a staff reporter at New York Magazine[17] and remains a contributor there.

Barkan is currently a columnist for The Guardian and was a columnist for Jacobin magazine.[16][18] He is a contributor to The Nation.[19]

In 2023, he was named a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine.[20]

Author

Barkan has published fiction in Post Road, Boston College's literary magazine,[21][22] and literary criticism in the Iowa Review,[23] Harvard Review,[24] The Rumpus,[25] and The Brooklyn Rail.[26]

His debut novel, Demolition Night,[27] was published in 2018.

His second book, The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York, was published in 2021. It was well-reviewed, with The Nation calling it a "swift and devastating read."[28][29]

In 2022, his second novel, The Night Burns Bright, was published.[30]

Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid called Barkan "consistently one of the most interesting and original essayists of his generation."[31]

2018 New York State Senate primary candidacy

In October 2017, Barkan announced he was running in a State Senate primary in New York City, planning to run in the Democratic Party primary and if successful to then challenge incumbent Marty Golden in 2018.[32][33][34] Barkan's campaign was managed by future-Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani[35][36] and endorsed by the New York Daily News and local politicians such as Squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but he lost the September 2018 Democratic primary to Andrew Gounardes by 15 percentage points.[37][38]

Professional accolades

Barkan has twice been the recipient of the New York Press Club's award for distinguished newspaper commentary, in 2017 and 2019.[39][40]

See also

New Yorkers in journalism

References

  1. ^ van Zuylen-Wood, Simon (March 3, 2019). "When Did Everyone Become a Socialist?". New York magazine.
  2. ^ Sherman, Jake; Palmer, Anna (October 22, 2019). "POLITICO Playbook: The world according to Trump". POLITICO.
  3. ^ Lovett, Kenneth (July 12, 2018). "Young Brooklyn Democratic state Senate candidates cross-endorsing each other". New York Daily News. Barkan, 27, a political journalist ...
  4. ^ "A Chat with SBU Grad and NY State Senate Candidate Ross Barkan". SB You. Stony Brook University. Retrieved September 24, 2018 – via you.stonybrook.edu.
  5. ^ ""Journalism in the Age of Trump" Panel hosted by the NYU CAS Alumni Association". June 9, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2018 – via Vimeo. [dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Queens Tribune Epaper". Queens Tribune. July 18, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2018 – via Issuu.
  7. ^ "Ross Barkan". The New York Observer. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  8. ^ Walker, Hunter (April 13, 2016). "Politics reporter quits newspaper owned by Ivanka Trump's husband after it endorses Donald Trump". Yahoo News.
  9. ^ Calderone, Michael (April 13, 2016). "New York Observer Political Reporter Quits The Morning After Donald Trump Endorsement". Huffington Post.
  10. ^ Kludt, Tom (April 13, 2016). "New York Observer loses top reporter over Trump coverage". CNN Money.
  11. ^ "Reporter resigns from paper owned by Trump's son-in-law - CNN Video". Reliable Sources. April 17, 2016 – via CNN.
  12. ^ Barkan, Ross (January 16, 2019). "Perspective | It's way too hard for working-class people to run for office". The Washington Post.
  13. ^ Barkan, Ross (August 29, 2017). "Would You Like to Sit on My Bed with Me and Check Twitter?". The New Yorker.
  14. ^ "Ross Barkan". The Nation. April 1, 2019.
  15. ^ "Ross Barkan". The Baffler. April 1, 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Ross Barkin". NYU Journalism. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  17. ^ @RossBarkan (May 11, 2022). "I'm excited to announce that with @EricLevitz on book leave, I'll be temporarily filling his shoes at @NYMag and @intelligencer, writing frequently on politics, society, and other things that strike my fancy. Very pumped to be contributing to a great institution". X (formerly Twitter).
  18. ^ "Ross Barkan". The Guardian. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  19. ^ "Masthead | The Nation". March 24, 2010.
  20. ^ @RossBarkan (March 10, 2023). "Happy to announce that, in addition to my other work, I'm becoming a contributing writer to @NYTmag. A great institution!". X (formerly Twitter).
  21. ^ "Post Road Magazine – Issue #24 | Spring/Summer 2013". Post Road. 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  22. ^ Barkan, Ross (2013). "Ross Barkan :: FLUTTER FLAKE - Post Road #24". Post Road. No. #24. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  23. ^ Barkan, Ross (October 24, 2012). "Elena Passarello's LET ME CLEAR MY THROAT". The Iowa Review.
  24. ^ Barkan, Ross (August 19, 2014). "Sleet: Selected Stories - Harvard Review Online". Harvard Review. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020.
  25. ^ "Ross Barkan". The Rumpus. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  26. ^ "Ross Barkan". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  27. ^ "DEMOLITION NIGHT by Ross Barkan". Kirkus Reviews. September 18, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
  28. ^ Lipsitz, Raina (July 28, 2021). "What Happened to Andrew Cuomo? | The Nation". {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  29. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York by Ross Barkan. OR, $20 trade paper (200p) ISBN 978-1-68219-410-2". June 2021.
  30. ^ "Publishers Marketplace: Log In". www.publishersmarketplace.com. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  31. ^ @shadihamid (January 30, 2024). "One of my favorite writers these days is hands down @RossBarkan who's fast becoming one of the most consistently interesting and original essayists of his generation (and mine)". X (formerly Twitter).
  32. ^ Demause, Neil (October 3, 2017). "Holy Crap, Ross Barkan Is Running for State Senate". The Village Voice.
  33. ^ Fink, Zack (October 5, 2017). "Muckraking journalist runs for Brooklyn Senate seat". NY1.
  34. ^ Rugh, Peter (December 22, 2017). "The Muckraker Vs. the Muck". The Indypendent. No. 231. New York.
  35. ^ "Zohran Mamdani | New York City Campaign Finance Board".
  36. ^ ""We Have an Obligation to Ensure That Justice is Not Defined by the Borders of Our District"".
  37. ^ "State Senate picks: Brooklyn". New York Daily News. September 9, 2018.
  38. ^ Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria [@ocasio2018] (August 24, 2018). "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "SOUTH BROOKLYN: @RossBarkan ..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  39. ^ "The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Wins 'Gold Keyboard' in 2017 New York Press Club Journalism Awards" (PDF). New York Press Club (Press release). May 19, 2017.
  40. ^ "Newsday Wins 'Gold Keyboard' in 2019 New York Press Club Journalism Awards, Also Takes Most Awards in Competition" (PDF). New York Press Club (Press release). June 18, 2019.