Pentagon Fires Military Newspaper Editor

Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of the US military newspaper Stars and Stripes, announced that he had been fired for insubordination. According to Reuters, the Pentagon also sent termination notices to other members of the editorial staff.

Slavin said the reason was a comment he made to CBS, in which he said that any censorship of news intended for members of the armed forces would be his personal "red line".

Longtime publisher Max Lederer, who was set to retire at the end of September, and reporter Lara Korte were also fired. Korte says she was fired after telling CBS that she works for Stars and Stripes, not the Pentagon.

Stars and Stripes has been published continuously since World War II, providing news coverage to American soldiers around the world. It is funded by the department of defense but has historically maintained editorial independence.

The Pentagon, under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is seeking to gain greater control over the newspaper. Its spokesperson, Sean Parnell, had previously announced changes to the newspaper's operations and a shift away from content he described as "woke distractions" that undermine morale.

(Reuters, lud)