The Department of Defense fired Stars and Stripes editor in chief Erik Slavin, Middle East reporter Lara Korte, and longtime publisher Max Lederer on Friday, August 21, citing insubordination. The dismissals followed a CBS Sunday Morning segment in which Slavin and Korte said publicly that military censorship of news for service members would be a line they would not cross.
In the interview, Slavin said it was imperative for Stars and Stripes to keep providing independent news to troops, and that turning the paper into public relations rather than independent journalism was something he would not compromise on. Korte, in the same segment, said she worked for Stars and Stripes, not for the Pentagon, any administration, or any policymaker.
Why Does the Pentagon Call This Insubordination?
Stars and Stripes has operated for more than 150 years as an editorially independent newspaper for the military, funded partly by the Defense Department but shielded by law from command influence over its coverage. The Pentagon’s public affairs office says the CBS remarks crossed that line by publicly rejecting oversight from department leadership. Slavin and Lederer have five days to appeal the decision.
The firings land just days after Stars and Stripes’ own reporting on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, where sailors attempted to jump ship during a record 260 day deployment. That coverage put unflattering details about morale and deployment length in front of the same troops the Pentagon says it wants informed, not shielded.
Korte posted that statement on X the same day she got her notice, writing that she told a CBS reporter she works for Stars and Stripes, not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policymaker.
Whether the firings hold up depends on the appeal process, and on how much pressure builds around a fight over what a taxpayer funded newspaper actually owes the troops it is built to serve. For now, three of the people responsible for keeping that coverage independent are gone, and the department paying for the newspaper is the one that fired them. More detail on the separation notices is available from CBS News.
