The Pentagon on Friday purged the leadership of military newspaper Stars and Stripes, which has been at odds with Defense Department brass since President Donald Trump returned to office last year.
Max Lederer, publisher of Stars and Stripes, as well as the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Erik Slavin, and a reporter, Lara Korte, were all fired on Friday for insubordination.
The publication is partially funded by the federal government but operates independently from Pentagon leadership.
Slavin told NOTUS he was let go at least partially because of a “CBS Sunday Morning” story about Stars and Stripes that he recently appeared in.
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“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a personal red line,” Slavin said in a statement. “The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination. I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies.”
The Department of Defense declined to comment on the situation, but a Pentagon official confirmed to NOTUS that the separation notices were issued.
Korte, who covered the Middle East for the paper and was also featured in the July “Sunday Morning” story, also said she received notice that she was being fired on Friday, connecting the incident to her appearance on the network.
In that story, she said: “I’m working for Stars and Stripes. Not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker. I’m here to cover the military community.”
Lederer, who served as publisher for 19 years, had already announced his retirement Tuesday in a memo to the news organization’s staff, saying that his “understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes” contrasted in “fundamental ways” with Pentagon leadership’s vision.
Lederer’s announcement led a trio of Democratic senators to voice their concerns over the Pentagon’s oversight of Stars and Stripes. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) revealed that the Department of Defense had assigned an active-duty public affairs officer to serve as Lederer’s deputy — reportedly without consultation with the newspaper’s leadership.
The Associated Press reported that it’s unclear if that active-duty public affairs officer, Navy Capt. William Urban, would become the new publisher.
Blumenthal lashed out at Pentagon leadership Friday after news of the firings broke, telling NOTUS in a statement: “These firings are political interference and intimidation. This shameless censorship will only continues to erode veteran and servicemember credibility and trust in the newspaper, whose independence is essential.”
He added that he planned to call for Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on the matter and push for changes as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act.
On Friday, Urban released an open letter on the Stars and Stripes website, telling the paper’s stakeholders that he is “mentally committed” to ending his time as a spokesperson for the Navy in order to help run the editorially independent publication.
“This may be difficult for some to understand, but I have had to adapt to changing assignments and roles through more than 30 years of service. This is certainly one of my most significant adaptations, but one that I am fully capable of making,” he wrote.
In April, the Pentagon also fired Jacqueline Smith, whose job as ombudsman had been to ensure the paper’s editorial independence.
The newspaper itself has been a focus for the department’s top officials.
In January, Hegseth’s spokesperson Sean Parnell said Stars and Stripes was “woke” but will be returning to “its original mission.”
“We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members,” Parnell said on X.
“Stars & Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters. It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints,” he said.
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