The Pentagon fired the editor-in-chief, publisher, and a reporter of Stars and Stripes on Friday, August 21, citing insubordination after the staff members publicly opposed censorship of military journalism.
Editor Erik Slavin, publisher Max Lederer, and Middle East reporter Lara Korte received termination notices with five days to appeal, according to CBS News. Slavin told the Associated Press he was fired for “stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line.” Korte said she was terminated for telling CBS that her work for Stars and Stripes did not mean she worked for “the Pentagon … any administration … [or] any policy maker.”
Lederer had served as publisher for 19 years and had announced his retirement effective September 30 just three days earlier, citing fundamental disagreements with Pentagon leadership over the newspaper’s editorial direction. In a letter to staff posted on social media, he wrote: “It has become clear that my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of value and mission of the Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction of the leadership of the Department of Defense.”
The firings came about ten days after Stars and Stripes published reporting on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. The outlet documented crew hardships during an extended Middle East deployment, including reports of sailors attempting to jump overboard after spending more than 250 consecutive days at sea. Sailors described food shortages, broken plumbing, and severe mental health strain. The Pentagon had sought to downplay those concerns; President Trump subsequently dismissed worries about the crew’s conditions, saying the deployment had been “not nearly long enough.”
The three terminations represent an escalation of the Pentagon’s campaign against independent military journalism. In April 2026, the Defense Department fired Jacqueline Smith, the Stars and Stripes ombudsman—a position created by Congress in 1991 specifically to protect the newspaper’s editorial independence. Smith was dismissed days after writing a column criticizing Pentagon press restrictions. She later sued the Pentagon, alleging her dismissal violated her First Amendment rights.
The Trump administration’s Pentagon has imposed sweeping restrictions on journalists covering the military. Beginning in September 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced new rules requiring journalists to pledge not to publish information without formal Pentagon approval, even unclassified material. Dozens of reporters resigned their Pentagon press credentials rather than accept the restrictions. In March 2026, after a federal judge ruled against the policy, the Pentagon adopted revised restrictions requiring all journalists to be escorted by Defense Department personnel while in the building. By June 2026, the Pentagon had designated its press office as a classified space, further barring journalists from independent access.
Stars and Stripes, which reaches approximately 1.4 million readers daily online and via overseas print, was first published during the American Civil War in 1861. The newspaper is funded partly by taxpayer dollars and has long been recognized as editorially independent from the Pentagon. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell had previously posted on social media that the administration would “modernize” Stars and Stripes’ operations and “refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale”—language reflecting the Trump administration’s broader effort to reshape military media coverage.
Slavin had previously told CBS News in July that editorial independence from the Pentagon was the “foxhole” he would be willing to die in. “We need to be able to provide independent news to service members,” he said. “If we can’t do that, if we were turned into something other than that, if we were public relations? Yeah, that’s the foxhole.” Korte made a similar point in that same CBS interview, stating: “I’m working for Stars and Stripes – not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker.”
Sources
- The Guardian — Pentagon firing of Lederer and Slavin, termination reasons, Lederer’s 19-year tenure, USS Abraham Lincoln reporting timeline, Smith ombudsman firing context, press restriction history
- CBS News — Termination notices, five-day appeal period, Slavin and Korte’s CBS interview statements
- Associated Press — Slavin’s quote on censorship red line, Lederer and Korte terminations
- Washington Post — Pentagon firing of Lederer and Slavin, Smith ombudsman firing and lawsuit context
- USA Today — Pentagon firing of Slavin, Lederer, and Korte on August 21
- Reuters — Pentagon press restrictions and revised policy after court order
- NPR — Court ruling against Pentagon press restrictions policy
- AP News — Journalists resigning Pentagon credentials over Hegseth restrictions
