Pentagon Raises Fears of Independent Newspaper Takeover After Top Editors Fired For CBS Interview

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The Pentagon fired two senior figures at Stars and Stripes on Friday, just days after they publicly defended the military newspaper’s editorial independence, deepening concerns that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s department is moving to exert greater control over the historic publication.

Editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte received separation notices, according to Slavin, as did longtime publisher Max Lederer who had already announced his retirement following clashes with Pentagon leadership.

Slavin said he and Korte were fired over their participation in an interview with CBS News’ Sunday Morning, in which both discussed the newspaper’s increasingly strained relationship with the Defense Department.

During the CBS interview, Korte drew a sharp distinction between reporting for the newspaper and working on behalf of military leadership: “I am working for Stars and Stripes. Not for the Pentagon. Not for any administration. Not for any policymaker. I am here to cover the military community.”

“I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes should remain independent for service members,” Slavin told The Washington Post Friday.

Korte said: “These firings are a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press.”

The Pentagon confirmed the firings to The Washington Post and said the three employees have five days to appeal.

The dismissals come amid mounting scrutiny over the future of Stars and Stripes, which receives Defense Department funding but has traditionally operated with editorial independence from the military chain of command.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon installed active-duty Navy Capt. William Urban, a public affairs officer, as a deputy to Lederer without consulting the publisher, according to the newspaper’s advisory board chairman. Lederer subsequently announced Thursday he would leave after more than three decades at Stars and Stripes, saying his approach had become incompatible with Pentagon leadership.

“It has become clear 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,” he wrote at the time.

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) had already demanded answers from Hegseth over Urban’s appointment, warning that placing an active-duty public affairs officer in senior management raised “serious questions” about the military newspaper’s independence.

The turmoil follows a broader Pentagon push to overhaul Stars and Stripes earlier this year when officials pledged to eliminate what they called “woke distractions,” while the newspaper’s ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, was fired in April. She later sued the Pentagon, alleging retaliation for criticizing attempts to influence the publication’s editorial content.

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