Three people I deeply respect are now gone from Stars and Stripes.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon fired Ombudsman Jacqueline Smith, whose congressionally authorized position existed specifically to safeguard the publication’s editorial independence.
On Friday, Aug. 21, the Pentagon delivered separation notices to longtime Publisher Max Lederer and Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin. Middle East reporter Lara Korte was also dismissed.
Only days earlier, Lederer had announced that he intended to retire Sept. 30 after more than three decades of service to Stars and Stripes. He explained that his philosophy of leadership and his understanding of the publication’s mission differed “in fundamental ways” from the direction Pentagon leadership intended to take it.
The Pentagon did not allow Lederer to serve those final weeks.
Slavin and Korte said they were accused of insubordination after publicly defending Stars and Stripes’ independence. Slavin said his offense was telling CBS News that military censorship of news for service members would constitute a “red line.” Korte said hers was explaining that she worked for Stars and Stripes, not for the Pentagon, an administration or any policymaker.
Lederer was reportedly dismissed after refusing a Pentagon directive to fire them.
Think about what that means: The publisher, editor and reporter were punished for defending the defining principle of the publication they served.
I had the privilege of interviewing Lederer, Slavin and Smith at length. These were not abstract conversations about institutional policy. They spoke about the people who rely on Stars and Stripes and the responsibilities that come with serving them.
Lederer explained that Stars and Stripes is congressionally mandated to remain “balanced, objective, independent and impartial.” Its journalists do not endorse political candidates, publish institutional opinions or accept political advocacy advertising. That discipline allows readers to trust a newsroom whose funding ultimately comes from the government it must sometimes hold accountable.
Slavin reminded me that service members can find Pentagon public relations in countless places. Stars and Stripes was created to be something different. It was intended to be the “soldiers’ paper,” funded by the military but free to scrutinize military leadership.
That independence has tangible consequences.
Slavin recalled the newspaper’s investigative reporting on troops in Iraq who lacked necessary equipment. After Stars and Stripes documented the problem, the troops received the gear they needed. That reporting did not weaken the military. It served the people whose lives depended on the military functioning properly.
Slavin also spoke about military families trying to determine whether their children could attend school following an attack. He described locations where internet access remained unreliable and a printed copy of Stars and Stripes could be one of the few dependable sources of essential information. At one base in Kuwait, he said, the newspaper recorded a pickup rate exceeding 90%.
That is the audience Stars and Stripes serves.
It serves the young service member stationed thousands of miles from home. It serves spouses and children waiting for trustworthy information about deployments, schools, housing, healthcare and security. It serves installations that function as communities and the surrounding towns and cities in which those bases are integral institutions.
Service members are not simply components of a military machine. They are citizens, parents, spouses, neighbors and members of communities. They deserve reporting that sees their full lives and asks questions on their behalf.
Smith made the standard unmistakably clear during our conversation. Credibility, she said, requires readers to know that “there is no message coming from the Pentagon or the government.”
That is precisely why the Pentagon’s actions are so alarming.
The Pentagon already has a mouthpiece. It is called public affairs. It possesses an enormous communications apparatus capable of distributing official information, explaining military policy and promoting leadership priorities.
Stars and Stripes exists because service members and their families need something public affairs cannot provide: journalism produced outside the military chain of command.
The dismissal of those who defended that independence sends a message to every journalist who remains. Challenge the Pentagon’s direction and your career may be at risk. Even without a formal censorship order, that threat encourages anticipatory obedience and self-censorship.
Congress must act. It should investigate these dismissals, protect the civilian and independent character of Stars and Stripes, strengthen the safeguards surrounding its editorial operations and ensure that future leadership is chosen for journalistic judgment rather than political compliance.
But this responsibility does not belong to Congress alone.
Every publisher, editor, broadcaster, journalist and journalism organization should speak publicly. Editorialize about what is happening. Explain it to your readers, viewers, listeners and followers. Contact your senators and representatives and demand that they protect the congressionally mandated editorial independence of Stars and Stripes.
Stars and Stripes should report extensively on warfighting. It must also report on inadequate equipment, failed leadership, dangerous working conditions, deployments, military families, schools, healthcare, housing and mental health. Those subjects are not distractions from military readiness. They are part of the reality of military service.
The Pentagon has many ways to deliver its message. Stars and Stripes must remain the independent voice reporting to and for those who serve, their families and their communities.
Max Lederer, Erik Slavin and Jacqueline Smith defended that mission when doing so carried a personal cost. Lara Korte has now paid that price as well.
The rest of us cannot remain silent.
Stand with Stars and Stripes.
Contact your representatives in Washington and urge them to protect the congressionally mandated editorial independence of Stars and Stripes. Tell your audiences why this institution matters. Use your platform to support the journalists who have defended it and the military community that depends on it.
One of journalism’s own needs our support. Help us defend it now.
About the author
Mike Blinder is the publisher of Editor & Publisher (E&P) Magazine and host of the weekly E&P Reports vodcast, where he interviews news media leaders about the future of journalism. A longtime newspaper executive, digital media pioneer and sales strategist, he has spent more than three decades helping local news organizations navigate industry change while advocating for a strong, independent press. The views expressed here are his own. He welcomes comments at Mike@EditorandPublisher.com.
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