Pentagon fires U.S. military newspaper leadership

The editor-in-chief of the Stars and StripesU.S.militarynewspapersaid on Friday that he was being fired for insubordination and a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that thePentagonhad sent notices to the paper’sleadershipinforming them that they would be let go.

“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a personal red line,” Erik Slavin said in a statement.

The source familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that Max Lederer, the long-time publisher of thenewspaperwho was set to retire at the end of September, was also removed.

In his email this week announcing his retirement, Lederer wrote that it was clear that thePentagonhad a new vision for thenewspaperthat was different from his own.

Lara Korte, who covered the Middle East for thenewspaper, said on social media on Friday that she had also been fired. She said it was because she had told CBS News that she works for Stars and Stripes and not thePentagon.

ThePentagondid not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stars and Stripes, which has published anewspapercontinuously since World War Two and provides news toU.S. troops around the world, receives funding from the Defense Department but has historically been editorially independent.

ThePentagonrecently appointed amilitarydeputy to the publisher for thenewspaper. In a post on X,Pentagonspokesperson Sean Parnell quoted from an open letter themilitarydeputy had written.

“We may never be able to have the same impact for our service members digitally that our paper had during World War II in a vastly different media environment, but I also believe that we can do better — that we must do better for our most important constituency, the men and women who make up theU.S. Armed Forces,” the letter said.

In his first administration, President Donald Trump reversed a decision by thePentagonto shut down thenewspaperall together.

Press freedom advocates have criticized broader policy changes ‌under the Trump administration that have limitedjournalists’ access to thePentagon, saying they suppressed freedom of speech.