The Pentagon fired three Stars and Stripes staffers for “insubordination” Friday after they spoke out against the Defense Department’s overhaul of the military newspaper.
Publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte have received separation notices, The Washington Post reported.
A Pentagon official confirmed to TheWrap that the separation notices are authentic, and directed us to an open letter from Capt. William Urban, the recently installed military deputy to the publisher.
“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,” Korte wrote on X.
Slavin said he was fired after telling CBS News that censoring news provided to service members would cross a “red line,” according to the Associated Press.
Lederer, who led the publication for 19 years, had already announced plans to retire on Sept. 30. He told staff this week that his philosophy and understanding of Stars and Stripes’ mission differed “in fundamental ways” from the direction Pentagon leaders wanted to take the organization.
The Pentagon had been considering removing Lederer before his scheduled retirement, CBS News reported Thursday.
The dismissals escalate a months-long battle over the future of Stars and Stripes, which is partly funded by the Defense Department but has long operated with editorial independence. The newspaper’s employees are federal workers, and Congress has repeatedly affirmed protections for its journalism.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced plans in January to overhaul the publication, saying it would eliminate “woke distractions” and focus more heavily on “warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY.”
The department subsequently installed Urban, an active-duty Navy public affairs officer, as Lederer’s deputy without consulting the publisher, The Post reported Thursday. The move prompted concerns among lawmakers, staffers and members of the publication’s advisory board that the Pentagon was undermining its civilian leadership and journalistic independence.
The Pentagon also fired Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith in April after she publicly criticized the department’s changes. Smith later sued, alleging that her dismissal was retaliatory and violated the First Amendment.
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