‘Stars And Stripes’ Editor Says He’s Worried About Military Censorship After Fires Him For ‘Insubordination’

Aug 23, 2026 03:48 AM - 1 hour ago 1

Topline

Erik Slavin, the editor-in-chief of subject newspaper Stars and Stripes, told the BBC connected Saturday that he's worried astir censorship successful the Pentagon aft he was fired by the Department of Defense for “insubordination” successful the aftermath of an unauthorized media appearance.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth calls connected reporters during a property briefing astatine the Pentagon connected May 5, 2026 successful Arlington, Virginia.

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Key Facts

Slavin, who was successful the apical domiciled astatine the insubstantial for little than a year, told the BBC he thinks Pentagon officials are becoming "less and little inclined to speak connected the record" contempt surviving "in a clip erstwhile we really request to perceive what's happening."

Slavin said the defense section cited insubordination and an unauthorized media quality arsenic the logic for his dismissal and he said he thinks the firing was a nonstop consequence to a remark he made connected CBS News calling censorship of news for work members "a reddish line” that cannot beryllium crossed.

The firing comes astir 2 weeks aft Stars and Stripes reported connected evident termination attempts from work members experiencing a adjacent record-breaking deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln craft carrier, which aggregate subject leaders and President Donald Trump repeatedly denied earlier agreeing to extremity the deployment.

Slavin said he didn’t cognize if the reporting astir the Lincoln played a domiciled successful his dismissal, but his firing is the latest move by the Pentagon to stifle the news outlet’s editorial independence, according to the New York Times.

He was sent a termination announcement alongside Lara Korte, a Middle East correspondent, and patient Max Lederer, who earlier successful the week announced he’d retire owed to ongoing conflict pinch Pentagon activity connected the paper’s direction.

Korte said connected X she thinks her dismissal, besides blamed connected "insubordination," had to do pinch comments she made during the aforesaid CBS News conception successful which she said she worked for "Stars and Stripes – not the Pentagon, not immoderate administration, and not immoderate argumentation maker."

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“I see it a awesome privilege to unrecorded alongside members of the subject and stock their stories,” Korte said. “It’s a shame for the institution and work members, who swore to take sides the Constitution and merit the correct to a free and independent press.”

KEY BACKGROUND

Stars and Stripes has been a newspaper for much than 100 years and is operated arsenic an independent news statement for U.S. work members, though it functions nether a hybrid exemplary tied to the Department of Defense. Roughly half to 65% of the organization's fund comes from taxpayers via the Department of Defense, and the remainder comes from commercialized gross streams for illustration subscriptions and advertisements. Staff members are formally counted arsenic defense section aliases authorities employees. In theory, the insubstantial maintains its independence done a 1994 legislature model and First Amendment protections safeguarded by Congress. Its ngo mandates that news reporting stay free of chain-of-command approval, but the Pentagon earlier this twelvemonth rescinded a regularisation requiring “a free travel of news and accusation to its readership without news guidance aliases censorship.” At the time, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the insubstantial must “refocus its contented distant from woke distractions" and, months later, banned the insubstantial from moving comics aliases articles from The Associated Press news wire, according to the Times.

SURPRISING FACT

The Pentagon hasn’t held a property convention since May, contempt being progressive successful a precocious floor plan warfare successful the Middle East that has been blamed for rising American state prices and increasing concerns complete location stableness and U.S. subject engagement abroad. The Pentagon successful October attempted to enforce a strict media argumentation that would only let outlets to study accusation officially authorised by the DoD, but awesome news outlets for illustration the Times, Washington Post and CNN refused to comply. A national judge later blocked the restrictions.