The Pentagon fired the editor-in-chief, publisher and a reporter of Stars and Stripes on Friday after they publicly opposed Defense Department interference with the military newspaper’s editorial independence.
Erik Slavin, the paper’s editor-in-chief since September 2025, told the Associated Press he received a notice of separation for insubordination after giving a CBS interview in which he stated that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line. Publisher Max Lederer and Middle East reporter Lara Korte were also dismissed.
A Decades-Long Publisher Out, a Reporter Silenced
Lederer, who had been with Stars and Stripes for three decades and served as publisher since 2007, had announced his retirement just days earlier. In a staff memo, he wrote that his “philosophy of leadership” and understanding of the newspaper’s mission “differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has.” His departure came weeks after the Pentagon installed a new military deputy publisher, an active-duty service member, under him without his prior knowledge.
Korte, who covered the Middle East beat, wrote on X that she was told she was fired for insubordination after telling a CBS reporter: “I work for Stars and Stripes – not the Pentagon, not the administration, and not any policymaker. I’m here to cover the military community.”
Hegseth’s Push to Curb “Woke Distractions”
The firings are the latest escalation in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign against Stars and Stripes, which has enjoyed editorial independence from the military since the Civil War. Earlier this year, Hegseth’s Pentagon labeled the publication as promoting “woke distractions” and moved to refocus its content. In January, job postings for the paper asked candidates how they would advance Trump’s “policy priorities.”
“I work for Stars and Stripes, not the Pentagon, not the administration, and not any policymaker.” – Lara Korte, Stars and Stripes Middle East reporter, on X
Media leaders expressed alarm at the dismissals. The firings follow the Pentagon’s earlier ouster of Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith in April, who later filed a lawsuit against Hegseth’s Defense Department. Stars and Stripes is partly funded by the Pentagon but has historically maintained the same editorial independence as civilian news outlets.
The moves come as the administration has grown increasingly aggressive toward the news media more broadly, raising concerns among press freedom advocates about the future of independent reporting on the U.S. military.
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