Stars and Stripes editor fired for insubordination after defending independence

The Pentagon on Friday fired the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes, a U.S. military newspaper with a longstanding tradition of editorial independence, and a top reporter for insubordination. The move came after they publicly objected to any Defense Department interference in the newsroom.

Erik Slavin, the editor, told the Associated Press he was dismissed for insubordination after giving a CBS interview where he said hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line. Reporter Lara Korte participated in the same interview and was also fired. Publisher Max Lederer, who had just announced his upcoming retirement, was dismissed as well, the AP reported.

“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, according to AP.

Korte posted on X: “Today, I was informed that the Department of Defense is firing me for insubordination after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes – not the Pentagon, not the administration, and not any policy maker.”

Lederer had announced his retirement effective at the end of September after three decades at the paper. His announcement came weeks after the Pentagon installed a new deputy publisher, an active-duty service member, under him without his knowledge. Three Democratic senators wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking about the appointment.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell posted on X that Stars and Stripes “will be custom tailored to our warfighters. It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY.” Parnell said the paper would no longer run “repurposed DC gossip columns” or AP reprints.

The firings follow the Pentagon’s earlier removal of the newspaper’s ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, whose job was to safeguard editorial independence. National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. called Slavin’s firing “another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military” and said it should be immediately reversed.

Lederer wrote in a staff memo that “my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization.”

The new military deputy, Navy Capt. William Urban, told AP he had no formal journalism experience but would focus on expanding digital journalism because service members are “digital natives.” “I think we need to get better on the digital side,” he said, “to make sure that we are reaching as many service members as we possibly can.”