Pentagon seeks to dismiss publisher and editor of Stars and Stripes

Washington — The Pentagon on Friday moved to fire the publisher and the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military news outlet partly funded by American taxpayers, as well as a reporter who covers the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter.

The separation notices, delivered Friday, gave Publisher Max Lederer and Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin five days to appeal their dismissals. Reporter Lara Korte also said she received notice that she was being fired.

The cause cited was insubordination. Slavin and Korte said the alleged insubordination was related to interviews they gave to WTX US News for a piece on “WTX Sunday Morning” that aired in July.

In a statement to WTX US News, Slavin said he will respond to the firing notice through the required process. 

“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a WTX 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. “I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies.”

Slavin spoke publicly about disagreements with Pentagon leaders in the “Sunday Morning” story. In that piece, Slavin was asked if he had any red lines he would not cross. He replied, “‘Don’t run a perfectly accurate story, run this instead. Here it is, written by the Pentagon.’ That would be a red line.”

In a statement, Korte called the firings “a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press.”

“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,” she said.

Korte was also featured in the July “Sunday Morning” story, in which she said: “I’m working for Stars and Stripes. Not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker. I’m here to cover the military community.”

A Defense Department spokesman declined to comment when contacted on Friday afternoon by WTX US News, which first reported the firings of Slavin and Lederer.

When asked Friday by WTX US News chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes about the reported firings at Stars and Stripes, White House adviser Stephen Miller said he’s confident that “if anybody was fired, it was for just cause.” 

Shortly after the firings were reported, Stars and Stripes published an open letter by Capt. William Urban, who said he had been tapped two weeks ago to help lead the outlet in a new role as military deputy to the publisher. The document included a memo of recommendations that Urban sent to Lederer on Aug. 17. Urban said he did not receive a response. 

“As I settle into the job, I am not going to dwell on the past,” Urban said in his open letter. “In the spirit of looking to the future and striving together for a better Stripes, I believe we should be focused on three priorities.”

Those priorities, he wrote, are to produce “the highest quality of editorially independent reporting,” to “leverage our great reporting and our increased focus on digital content to increase revenue through advertising” and to “embrace a culture of change as we extensively modernize our operations.” 

Lederer had served as the outlet’s publisher for 19 years and told colleagues this week that he would retire on Sept. 30, citing fundamental differences with the Trump administration.

WTX US News reported on Wednesday that Pentagon officials had discussed dismissing Lederer before his scheduled retirement.

In a note to staff earlier this week that was obtained by WTX US News, Lederer wrote: “It has become clear that my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization.” 

But he added he would “do everything I can to make sure the transition is smooth for each of you” before his retirement.

Stars and Stripes has been a source of critical information for members of the military and their families for decades, and has prided itself on editorial independence. 

Recently, Stars and Stripes, along with the Military Times, reported on challenging conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, writing that family members of service members aboard the aircraft carrier were concerned about their loved ones’ mental health and risk of self-harm. Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump downplayed or denied those reports, but the ship left the Middle East this week to begin the journey home to the U.S. after a nine-month deployment.

Roughly half of Stars and Stripes’ $29 million annual budget comes from taxpayers, a person familiar with the newspaper’s operations said. Readership has declined since its peaks during the Vietnam War, the Cold War and World War II, according to two U.S. officials, but an average of 1.4 million people see Stars and Stripes each day. Print editions overseas also reach service members in remote locations where internet access is spotty and unreliable. 

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell has talked about “bringing Stars and Stripes into the 21st century” and efforts to “refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.”