Stars and Stripes remains under fire from Pentagon, raising red flags about press independence and censorship

Independence is fundamental to our credibility, to our purpose, to our mission, and it has been for many decades. It was Dwight Eisenhower who laid that down and said, ‘This is the soldier’s paper, don’t interfere.”

Stars and Stripes Editor-in-Chief, Erik Slavin

Access these two related "E&P Reports" Vodcast  Episodes

November 2025 interview
with Stars & Stripes Publisher and CEO Max D. Lederer Jr.

March 2026 interview
with Stars & Stripes Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin & Ombudsman Jacqueline Smith

 

 

It’s right in the tagline: “Stars and Stripes — the U.S. military’s independent news source.”

On August 21, the newly appointed military deputy to the publisher of Stars and Stripes — a liaison between the news outlet and the Pentagon — Capt. William Urban published an open letter, vowing “the highest quality of editorially independent reporting.”

Yet, on Friday, August 21, The Washington Post broke news that Stars and Stripes’ publisher, editor, and a reporter who covered the Middle East, had been fired by the Pentagon. The same day, the Pentagon’s newly appointed military deputy to the publisher of Stars and Stripes, Capt. William Urban, published an open letter, vowing “the highest quality of editorially independent reporting.” Capt. Urban has spent more than 20 years in communications and public relations roles for the U.S. Navy and Defense Department.

Last week, longtime Stars and Stripes Publisher Max D. Lederer Jr. announced his retirement from the 164-year-old news magazine. He’d invested more than 30 years in service to the mission and audience and planned to leave Sept. 30. Stars and Stripes Congressional Reporter Svetlana Shkolnikova shared excerpts of a memo Lederer put out to staff.

“I have thought a great deal about the right time to step aside, and I have concluded that this is it,” Lederer wrote. “I leave with real pride in what we have accomplished together and with complete confidence in what you will accomplish next.”

Lederer appeared to be at odds with the Pentagon over operational matters. He specifically cited objections to Stars and Stripes becoming a digital-only news source and to “the pace and the direction” being set by the Pentagon, according to Shkolnikova’s reporting.

Stars and Stripes has thriving digital and social channels, but print is still an essential platform. In the past year alone, Stars and Stripes produced approximately 5.8 million U.S. weekly newspapers and 3.5 million special publications for troops serving overseas.

Acces Bob Miller's July 2026 E&P profile on Stars and Stripes 

A tumultuous year for Stars and Stripes

Since assuming the role of Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth — who established his own brand and legacy in news media — has made it his mission to rewrite the rules of reporting on the Pentagon. Legacy journalists were ousted from office space at the Pentagon. “New media,” deferential to the Trump administration, has been invited to join the Pentagon press pool. And there was the mass exodus from the pool of Pentagon press who refused to sign an agreement allowing the Pentagon to set the parameters of their coverage.

In April, the Department of Defense fired Stars and Stripes Ombudsman Jacqueline Smith over a column she’d written about the Pentagon’s directive to eliminate cartoons from the publication.

In Editor & Publisher’s July issue, Bob Miller profiled Stars and Stripes and the Stars and Stripes Museum in Bloomfield, Missouri. Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin told Miller, “Independence is fundamental to our credibility, to our purpose, to our mission, and it has been for many decades. It was Dwight Eisenhower who laid that down and said, ‘This is the soldier’s paper, don’t interfere.’”

Slavin joined the Stars and Stripes newsroom as a reporter in 2005. During his time as a war correspondent for the title, he embedded with combat troops in Iraq and covered the U.S. Navy operating in the South Pacific from Japan. Slavin subsequently was appointed to lead news operations in Europe and the Middle East. He became editor-in-chief in September 2025.

In the wake of his firing, Slavin gave a statement to CBS News, which read, in part: “According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line. The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination.”

Lara Korte, who reported on the Middle East — an evergreen concern for the U.S. military and military families — was also fired. On X, Korte posted, in part: “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 any administration, and not any policy maker.” In her thread, she linked to her latest reporting about Navy families who’d been evacuated from homes in Bahrain six months prior, explaining how they’ve navigated temporary housing conditions and an uncertain future since.

The Pentagon’s changes to Stars and Stripes come at a consequential time — war time — for the military. This week alone:

• NBC News reported that President Trump ordered the military to reduce its ongoing joint exercises with U.S. ally South Korea, citing the President’s friendly relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
• ABC News reported on a dispute between the Defense Department and its AI developer of choice, Anthropic.
• The Military Times covered the Pentagon’s intention to audit academic institutions in search of financial ties to foreign entities.
• ProPublica kicked off a new investigative series, “The $1 Trillion Black Box,” focused on the “vast and opaque” U.S. military budget.
• The Associated Press reported that the USS Lincoln was finally returning to its home port in San Diego after an extended deployment — and has been replaced by the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
• And The Washington Post reported, according to Department of Defense counts, 18 U.S. service members have been killed in the war with Iran, and 756 have been wounded in action. The temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran expired on Monday, Aug. 17.

In the wake of the firing news, Dan Lamothe, who writes about the Armed Forces for The Washington Post, remarked on X: “After the firings at Stripes today, would be remiss to not again note that another week has concluded without a routine news briefing at the Pentagon. The last one occurred May 5. This, from what the administration calls the “most transparent DoD in American history.”

Gretchen A. Peck is Editor & Publisher’s editor-in-chief. She welcomes your emails at editor@editorandpublisher.com.