An aerial view of the Pentagon, which houses the US Department of Defense headquarters, in Arlington, Virginia, on May 31, 2026.
Daniel Slim | Afp | Getty Images
The editor-in-chief of the Stars and Stripesย U.S.ย militaryย newspaperย said on Friday that he was being fired for insubordination and a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that theย Pentagonย had sent notices to the paper’sย leadershipย informing them that they would be let go.
“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,” Erik Slavin said in a statement.
The source familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that Max Lederer, the long-time publisher of theย newspaperย who was set to retire at the end of September, was also removed.
In his email this week announcing his retirement, Lederer wrote that it was clear that theย Pentagonย had a new vision for theย newspaperย that was different from his own.
Lara Korte, who covered the Middle East for theย newspaper, said on social media on Friday that she had also been fired. She said it was because she had told CBS News that she works for Stars and Stripes and not theย Pentagon.
Theย Pentagonย did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stars and Stripes, which has published aย newspaperย continuously since World War Two and provides news toย U.S. troops around the world, receives funding from the Defense Department but has historically been editorially independent.
Theย Pentagonย recently appointed aย militaryย deputy to the publisher for theย newspaper. In a post on X,ย Pentagonย spokesperson Sean Parnell quoted from an open letter theย militaryย deputy had written.
“We may never be able to have the same impact for our service members digitally that our paper had during World War II in a vastly different media environment, but I also believe that we can do better โ that we must do better for our most important constituency, the men and women who make up theย U.S. Armed Forces,” the letter said.
In his first administration, President Donald Trump reversed a decision by theย Pentagonย to shut down theย newspaperย all together.
Press freedom advocates have criticized broader policy changes โunder the Trump administration that have limitedย journalists’ access to theย Pentagon, saying they suppressed freedom of speech.