The Pentagon has fired the editor-in-chief of the Stars and Stripes, a prominent United States military newspaper, as well as one of its top reporters. Erik Slavin, the editor-in-chief, told The on Friday that he received a notice of separation, along with the newspaper’s Middle East reporter Lara Korte. Another notice was sent to Max Lederer, the paper’s longtime publisher, who had previously announced he would retire at the end of September.
Slavin credited the termination notices to the group’s decision to speak publicly about efforts to defend the editorial independence of the Stars and Stripes newspaper. While the Pentagon provides funding for the Stars and Stripes, the newspaper has worked to maintain its ability to report independently on military matters. He believes he was fired for “for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line”.
The Stars and Stripes has had a storied history covering the US military. Founded in the 19th century, the paper gained prominence during World War II, when it became the official news outlet for soldiers deployed abroad. But the firings on Friday come as the administration of President Donald Trump puts in place policies that civil rights advocates fear will curtail the freedom of the press.
Under Trump’s second term, for instance, the Pentagon has restricted journalists’ ability access to areas including its press office. Trump has also launched lawsuits against a range of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The , the BBC and The New York Times, over coverage disagreements. The Stars and Stripes had generated headlines in recent weeks from its coverage of the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that has been on a record-long deployment since November.
The newspaper profiled cases where sailors on the ship expressed suicidal ideation or attempted to jump overboard. The Trump administration has dismissed such reports as overblown and “dishonest”. But the pressure on the Stars and Stripes has been building for months.
In a statement in January, for instance, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the department would be “returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters”. He added that the Pentagon would intervene to “refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale”. It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY,” Parnell wrote.
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