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The Pentagon issued the firings of top brass at the military newspaper Stars and Stripes as well as one of its reporters Friday over alleged insubordination.
Stars and Stripes’ longtime publisher Max Lederer, its editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte were given their dismissal notices, Digital confirmed.
The firings, first reported by CBS News, stem from Slavin and Korte’s unauthorized participation in a “CBS Sunday Morning” segment that aired last month about the Pentagon’s efforts to overhaul the paper, and Lederer’s refusal to fire them at the direction of Pentagon leadership, a source familiar with the matter told Digital.
“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line. The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination,” Slavin said in a statement to Digital. “I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies.”
PENTAGON OFFICIALS MULLING THE FIRING OF MILITARY NEWSPAPER STARS AND STRIPES PUBLISHER
Stars and Stripes editor-in-chief Erik Slavin was fired by the Pentagon for alleged insubordination after he participated in an unauthorized interview on “CBS Sunday Morning.” (Screenshot/CBS News)
Slavin was appointed editor-in-chief of Stars in Stripes in September 2025. He joined the paper in 2005 as a reporter in Japan and later an embed reporter with U.S. Forces in Iraq, his work eventually taking him across the globe, according to the paper’s report about the firings.
Korte, who joined the paper in 2024, took to social media, posting on X, “Today, I was informed that the Department of Defense is firing me for insubordination after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes – not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.”
PENTAGON VOWS TO REFORM MILITARY NEWSPAPER STARS AND STRIPES, REMOVE ‘WOKE DISTRACTIONS’
“I consider it a great privilege to live alongside members of the military and share their stories. It’s a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press,” Korte wrote. “I’m proud of the work my colleagues and I do at Stars and Stripes, especially the last six months covering the protracted conflict in Iran. Military families and service members have trusted us to share their experience with the world and I don’t take that lightly.”
Stars and Stripes Middle East reporter Lara Korte told CBS News, “I’m working for Stars and Stripes – not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.” (Screenshot/CBS News)
Lederer, an Army veteran who joined Stars and Stripes in 1992 and has served as its publisher for 19 years, previously announced to staff his intention was to retire at the end of September due to “fundamental” differences he had with Pentagon leadership on the direction of the paper.
“I have thought a great deal about the right time to step aside, and I have concluded that this is it,” Lederer wrote, according to a Stars and Stripes report on his retirement. “I leave with real pride in what we have accomplished together and with complete confidence in what you will accomplish next.”
The fired staffers were granted five days to appeal their dismissals, Digital has learned.
WASHINGTON POST OPINION EDITOR TO EXIT PAPER AFTER JUST ONE YEAR, STAFF COMPLETELY ‘BLINDSIDED’
Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer was fired just days after he announced he was stepping down in September due to “fundamental” differences he had with Pentagon leadership. (ullstein bild via Getty Images)
When asked for comment, a Pentagon spokesman cited an open letter to stakeholders penned by Military Deputy to the Publisher Captain William Urban, a portion of which was shared on X by Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
“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—that we must do better for our most important constituency, the men and women who make up the U.S. Armed Forces,” Urban wrote. “My vision for the future of Stars and Stripes is simple: More eyeballs on our content and more impact on our service members while maintaining the highest standard of professional journalism with the credibility that comes with editorial independence.”
A spokesperson for Stars and Stripes cited its own report on the firings and declined to comment further. Neither Lederer nor Korte responded to Digital’s requests for comment.
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell announced the department’s overhaul of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, vowing to eliminate “woke distractions.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The Pentagon kicked off 2026 by announcing its overhaul of the long-running newspaper.
“The Department of War is returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters,” Parnell posted on X in January. “We are bringing Stars & Stripes into the 21st century. We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.”
Parnell continued, “Stars & Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters. It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints. Stars & Stripes has a proud legacy of reporting news that’s important to our service members. The Department of War is committed to ensuring the outlet continues to reflect that proud legacy.”
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The Pentagon previously fired the Stars and Stripes ombudsman in April after being an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s oversight of the paper.
