The Pentagon took major action against Stars and Stripes on Friday, firing its publisher, editor and a Middle East reporter.
The Aug. 21 terminations included publisher Max Lederer Jr., editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte, announced by the publication itself while the outgoing staffers vowed to maintain editorial independence.
Slavin, who told CBS News in a July interview that he stood by the publication’s “editorial independence” and not kowtowing to the Pentagon’s agenda or control, told the publication following his firing that he received a notice of proposed separation and is reviewing it. Slavin became editor in 2025 after initially joining the outlet in 2005.
An anonymous Pentagon official confirmed Slavin’s separation notice to Stars and Stripes, also referencing an open letter published Friday by Navy Capt. William Urban, the paper’s newly installed military deputy to the publisher, on the future direction of the publication.
Military.com reached out to Slavin and the Pentagon for comment.
Korte, who joined the outlet in December 2024, said in a statement that her job was to cover the military community and not report what the Pentagon or Defense Department wants to hear.
It was a “great privilege” to live alongside members of the military at the newspaper’s European headquarters in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and to share their stories, she added.
“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,” Korte said, mentioning how proud she has been of her coverage of the Iran War.
Stars and Stripes has operated independently of the Pentagon under a 1994 framework, even as approximately 65% of its budget comes from the DOD and its staff are counted as department employees.
Its mission statement describes it as editorially independent and “governed by the principles of the First Amendment.”
Timing of Terminations
The timing of the firings is also notable, coming on a Friday and just hours after Lederer announced his plans to retire from a lengthy journalism career.
He cited fundamental differences with Defense Department leadership over the direction of the outlet as the primary reason for his impending departure, which now seemingly arrives sooner than even he intended. He was supposed to leave for good on Sept. 30, and on his own terms.
Lederer announced his decision to step down in a staff memo on Tuesday and in an interview with the publication itself.
In the memo obtained by the Associated Press and CBS News, Lederer wrote that it had “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.”
He’s worked for Stars and Stripes since 1992 and served as its publisher since 2007, only the second full-time civilian to hold the role.
These terminations come months after another Stars and Stripes employee was fired by the Pentagon.
The Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, the newspaper’s ombudsman, roughly four months ago. Her job entailed safeguarding editorial independence.
“No one should be surprised that they’re kicking out the one person charged by Congress with protecting Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence,” Smith wrote in a column after her ousting.
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