Former Stars and Stripes editor says firing was “real shock,” hopes paper “can remain independent”
Former Stars and Stripes Editor Calls Firing “Real Shock”
Bizeconanalysis.com – The Department of Defense terminated three senior Stars and Stripes personnel last week — editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, publisher Max Lederer, and Middle East correspondent Lara Korte — citing insubordination. In a Monday appearance on “The Takeout with Major Garrett,” the Former Stars and Stripes editor described receiving his notice as a “real shock” and a “very unexpected” turn of events. The stated trigger was his participation in a prior month’s “CBS Sunday Morning” segment that examined the Trump administration’s push to reshape the paper’s editorial direction.
Two Decades at the Desk, Ended in Days
Slavin spent just over twenty years climbing from reporter to bureau chief before taking the editor-in-chief seat last fall. During the earlier Sunday broadcast, a host pressed him on whether any boundary existed he would not cross. His answer: a Pentagon directive not to run a “perfectly accurate story” would be his “red line.” On Monday he walked back the framing, calling it a “hypothetical response, in my personal opinion, as to what would be my red line,” and noted he was describing “censorship, which I believe to be in line with Department of Defense regulations and the law itself.”
“I certainly hope [Stars and Stripes] can remain independent in some way. I haven’t given up on that, but time will tell, and I think there needs to be a reckoning.”
Lederer, who had told colleagues he planned to retire at the close of September over fundamental disagreements with the administration, was terminated on Friday before that departure could take effect. Korte, dismissed for appearing in the same CBS segment, said in a separate Monday interview that she had “certainly been bolstered to see comments from the Stripes’ leadership and from the Pentagon that the Stripes is editorially independent,” adding that such promises “have to be instituted in practice.”
Funding, History, and the Pentagon’s Overhaul Agenda
Stars and Stripes first went to print during the American Civil War, making it among the oldest continuously published military newspapers in the world. Its identity has long rested on editorial separation from the Pentagon — the government does not dictate what the paper publishes or withholds. That independence, however, coexists with a substantial taxpayer subsidy: a person familiar with internal operations confirmed last week that roughly half of the paper’s $29 million annual budget flows from public funds.
Circulation has contracted since its peaks during World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War, according to two U.S. officials. Even so, an estimated 1.4 million readers encounter the paper daily, and print editions dispatched overseas still reach service members in remote garrisons where digital access is limited.
The dismissals land amid a broader restructuring effort. Earlier this year, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the Defense Department intended to make “sweeping changes” to the publication, pledging to “modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.” Slavin also said the Pentagon subsequently attempted to block the paper from carrying syndicated articles supplied by wire services.
Shortly after the firings, the paper published an open letter from Navy Captain William Urban, who announced his appointment as military deputy to the publisher. Urban wrote his priorities would be producing “the highest quality of editorially independent reporting” while modernizing operations and expanding advertising revenue. Asked how that pledge squares with this year’s editorial overhaul, Slavin said he was “not sure” the two positions were compatible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why were Slavin, Lederer, and Korte fired? The Pentagon cited insubordination. All three had appeared in a “CBS Sunday Morning” segment examining the administration’s efforts to reshape the newspaper’s editorial direction.
How much of Stars and Stripes’ budget comes from taxpayers? Approximately half of its $29 million annual budget is funded by public money, according to a person familiar with the paper’s internal operations.
Who replaced the departed leadership? Navy Captain William Urban was tapped as military deputy to the publisher. He pledged editorially independent reporting alongside operational modernization and expanded advertising revenue.
Can the Former Stars and Stripes editor still hope the paper stays independent? Slavin said he “hasn’t given up” on independence but added that “time will tell” and that “there needs to be a reckoning.”