The Pentagon on Friday fired the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes, as well as its publisher and a reporter, the editor said. He said he was dismissed for insubordination after an interview he gave that objected to potential censorship by the U.S. military.
Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of the military newspaper that is partly funded by the Pentagon but has a long legacy of editorial independence, told The Associated Press that he and the others had received notices of separation.
The moves come at a time when the Trump administration, in its second term, has been increasingly aggressive and combative toward the news media — including sharply curtailing Pentagon access for the press corps that covers the Defense Department. Trump or other parts of the executive branch have also, in policy and in the courts, grappled with the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and The New York Times — in addition to using the FCC to target broadcast networks.
Slavin said he was being fired “for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line.” He said he stands by the principle “that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent.”
Earlier this week, publisher Max Lederer announced his retirement effective at the end of September. He too received a separation notice, according to Slavin, as did Middle East reporter Lara Korte, who was cited for the same CBS interview as Slavin. Neither Lederer nor Korte immediately responded to requests for comment.
Lederer made his announcement a few weeks after the Pentagon installed a new deputy publisher, an active duty service member, under Lederer at the newspaper without his prior knowledge. Three Democratic senators on Thursday wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, asking why the new deputy — Navy Capt. William Urban — had been installed.
It was unclear whether Urban would now become the new publisher. In an email message to the AP, Urban said, “I am currently the Military Deputy to the Publisher. I can’t comment on what my role will be in the future.”
The retirement of Lederer, who had been at Stars and Stripes for three decades and publisher since 2007, comes as Hegseth’s Pentagon moves to exert editorial control and eliminate what it asserts are “woke distractions.”
Lederer, the second full-time civilian in the position, wrote in a staff memo that it had “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.”
In April, the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, ombudsman for the newspaper, whose job had been to safeguard editorial independence.
Noveck writes for the Associated Press.
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