Pentagon Fires Stars and Stripes Editor, Publisher, Reporter for Insubordination

The Defense Department fired Erik Slavin, the editor-in-chief, and Max Lederer, the publisher, of Stars and Stripes on Friday.

Lara Korte, a Middle East correspondent at the news outlet, was also fired. The Pentagon sent termination notices to Slavin and Lederer, who had announced his retirement earlier this week, citing conflict with Pentagon leadership on the paper's direction. Slavin's termination notice cited insubordination and an unauthorized media appearance as reasons for his dismissal. In July, CBS News interviewed Slavin and Korte for a segment on accusations of editorial interference at Stars and Stripes.

Slavin stated he was fired for saying in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a personal red line. Korte said on social media she was fired 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.

Lederer, who served as publisher since 2007, had announced his intention to retire in September, stating it was clear the Pentagon had a new vision for the newspaper that differed from his own. The firings raised questions about the Pentagon's willingness to ensure the editorial integrity of the publication. Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news outlet, reports on the U.S. military and has published continuously since World War Two, historically maintaining editorial independence.

The terminations came about 10 days after Stars and Stripes journalists reported on hardships faced by Navy sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose deployment was extended to nine months amid the war in Iran. The Pentagon recently appointed Navy Captain William Urban, an active duty serviceman, as the outlet's military deputy to the publisher without Lederer's prior knowledge.

Captain Urban stated in a letter published Friday that his priority was to ensure the highest quality of editorially independent reporting at Stars and Stripes. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been critical of the media since taking office in 2025.