Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth‘s Pentagon has spent months restricting journalists’ access to the military. Now, the crackdown has reached a news organization created specifically to serve American troops and their families.
The Pentagon fired “Stars and Stripes” editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte on Friday, citing insubordination after the journalists publicly defended the newspaper’s editorial independence. Publisher Max Lederer, who announced his retirement earlier this week after more than three decades at the publication, also received a separation notice.
The firings mark the latest escalation in Hegseth’s increasingly contentious relationship with the press. Last year, dozens of journalists surrendered Pentagon credentials rather than agree to new restrictions on their reporting. A federal judge later blocked key portions of the policy, but the Pentagon responded by closing the “Correspondents’ Corridor” used by journalists for decades and announcing plans to move reporters to an annex outside the building.
“Stars and Stripes,” however, occupies a unique place in American journalism.
The publication traces its history to the Civil War and has continuously served U.S. military communities since World War II. Although partly funded by the Defense Department, Congress has protected its editorial independence, allowing its journalists to report on the military without functioning as a Pentagon public relations operation.
That independence has increasingly collided with Hegseth’s vision for the paper.
In January, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said “Stars and Stripes” would be “custom tailored to our warfighters” and focus on “warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY,” while eliminating what he called “DC gossip columns” and Associated Press stories.
In April, the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, the newspaper’s ombudsman, whose job was specifically intended to protect its editorial independence.
Slavin told the Associated Press that his refusal to accept military censorship was cited in his termination notice as insubordination. Similarly, Korte, who has reported extensively on the war with Iran, defended the newspaper’s role following her dismissal.
“Military families and service members have trusted us to share their experience with the world,” she said.
The crackdown also comes amid questions over how Hegseth determines who gets access to Pentagon information. According to reports, his wife, Jennifer Rauchet Hegseth, holds no official Pentagon position but has attended meetings with foreign defense officials and was included in a Signal chat in which Hegseth shared sensitive information about U.S. military operations.
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Meanwhile, “Stars and Stripes” continues doing what it has done for generations: reporting directly to military communities.
On Saturday, the newspaper reported that the USS Abraham Lincoln was finally leaving the Middle East after months supporting the Iran war without leave — news likely of particular importance to the thousands of sailors aboard the carrier and their families waiting at home.
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