Pentagon fires Stars and Stripes leaders who criticized DOD’s interference

The Pentagon on Friday fired the publisher and the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper funded by the Department of Defense that has long enjoyed editorial independence from the government, according to the publication’s outgoing editor in chief.

The Defense Department sent a separation notice to publisher Max Lederer, who announced his retirement this week, telling staff in a parting note he had disagreed with decisions from Pentagon top brass.

Under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the publication’s independence has come under threat during the second Trump administration as top Pentagon leaders have derided the newspaper as “woke.”

Erik Slavin, the editor in chief, said he and reporter Lara Korte also received separation notices Friday.

Slavin said he and Korte were fired for participating in a CBS News interview, during which he said any hypothetical censorship of the military newspaper would cross a red line.

“I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes should remain independent for service members,” Slavin said in a Friday interview with the Washington Post.

In the interview with CBS’ Sunday Morning, Korte discussed the increasingly tense relationship between the publication and the DOD. “I am working for Stars and Stripes. Not for the Pentagon,” she said. “Not for any administration. Not for any policymaker. I am here to cover the military community.”

“I consider it a great privilege to live alongside members of the military and share their stories,” Korte wrote in a Friday statement. “These firings are a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press.”

Lederer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Pentagon confirmed the firings and said the three employees have a five-day period to appeal. They declined to offer further comment.

In April, the Pentagon fired the Stars and Stripes ombudsman, a role charged by Congress with safeguarding the paper’s editorial independence.