The Pentagon has fired the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes and a top reporter for insubordination after they spoke publicly against any interference by the US Defense Department in the military news outlet that has a long history of editorial independence.

It was the latest move by an administration that has grown increasingly aggressive towards the news media.

The newspaper’s publisher, who announced his impending retirement days ago, was also dismissed.

Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of the military newspaper that is partly funded by the Pentagon, said he was dismissed for insubordination after an interview he gave that objected to potential censorship by the US military. He received a notice of separation, as did publisher Max Lederer - who had just announced his upcoming retirement - and Middle East reporter Lara Korte, Slavin said.

The moves come at a time when the Trump administration, in its second term, has been progressively combative towards the media – including sharply curtailing Pentagon access for the press corps that covers the Defense Department.

Slavin said he was being fired “for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line”. Korte participated in the same interview.

“I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies,” Slavin said.

National Press Club president Mark Schoeff J called the firing of Slavin “another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military” and said it should be immediately reversed.

“Firing a newspaper editor after he publicly defended his newsroom’s editorial independence is deeply troubling, and it should concern every journalist and every member of the US military who depends on independent reporting,” Schoeff said.

“Stars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters,” Sean Parnell, Hegseth's spokesman, wrote in January on X. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”

In April, the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, ombudsman for the newspaper, whose job had been to safeguard editorial independence. (AP)




Edited by Azam Khan