August 22, 2026

USA: Pentagon Fired Publisher And Editor Of Stars And Stripes After Calling Any Censorship A Red Line. Sec Hegseth Kicked Out Most Press For Refusing To Sign Loyalty Pledge, Hired Loyalists.

CBS Pittsburgh published August 21, 2026: Pentagon moves to fire publisher and editor of Stars and Stripes. 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. 
CBS Sunday Morning published July 5, 2026: The battle over Stars and Stripes. Stars and Stripes, the newspaper for the American military, is part of the Department of Defense, but has long taken pride in its editorial independence. Under the Trump administration, however, the Pentagon's chief spokesman has vowed to rid the paper of "woke distractions," and the deputy secretary of defense has imposed restrictions on what it can publish (including banning news stories by the Associated Press). CBS News national defense correspondent David Martin reports on fears that a source of independent news for the military could be turned into what the paper's former ombudsman (who was fired after writing a column critical of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth) calls "a public affairs propaganda machine."

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CBS News
written by Jennifer Jacobs and Kathryn Watson
Friday August 21, 2026

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 CBS News for a piece on "CBS Sunday Morning" that aired in July.

In a statement to CBS 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 CBS 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 CBS News, which first reported the firings of Slavin and Lederer.

When asked Friday by CBS 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.

CBS 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 CBS 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."
WFAA published October 16, 2025: Pentagon journalists walk out after Hegseth puts new restrictions on what journalists can cover. The new rules would have prevented the reporters from covering anything not already approved by the Pentagon.
KGW News published October 22, 2025: Pentagon forms new press corps after rules prompt exodus of journalists. The Department of Defense unveiled a revamped press corps Tuesday following departures of major journalists, including Fox News, due to new Pentagon reporting rules.

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KGW8 NBC News, Oregon local
written by David Bauder
October 22, 2025

Several conservative news outlets said Wednesday they had agreed to a new press policy rejected by virtually all legacy media organizations and will take their place in the Pentagon to cover Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the U.S. military.

The new Pentagon press corps will include the Gateway Pundit, the National Pulse, Human Events, podcaster Tim Pool, the Just the News website founded by journalist John Solomon, Frontlines by Turning Point USA and LindellTV, run by “MyPillow” CEO Mike Lindell.

The Pentagon's announcement came less than a week after dozens of reporters from outlets like The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN and the Washington Post turned in their access badges rather than agree to a policy the journalists say will restrict them to covering news approved by Hegseth.

Hegseth's spokesman, Sean Parnell, announced the “next generation” of the Pentagon press corps with more than 60 journalists who had agreed to the new policy. He said 26 journalists who had previously been part of the press corps were among the signees. The department wouldn't say who any of them were, but several outlets reposted his message on X saying they had signed on.

There isn't even unanimity among organizations that appeal to conservative consumers. Fox News Channel, by far the most popular news source for fans of President Donald Trump, was among the walkouts, as was Newsmax.

In a post on X, Parnell denounced the “self-righteous media who chose to self-deport from the Pentagon."

“Americans have largely abandoned digesting their news through the lens of activists who masquerade as journalists in the mainstream media,” Parnell wrote. “We look forward to beginning a fresh relationship with members of the new Pentagon press corps.”

The journalists who left the Pentagon haven't stopped working covering the U.S. military. Many have been reporting aggressively, for example, on stories about strikes against boats in central America alleged to be part of the drug trade.

By not being in the Pentagon, “reporters will have to work harder, there's no question about it,” said Barbara Starr, a longtime Pentagon reporter retired from CNN.

“But the real price is paid by the American people and the American military families,” Starr said. “Military families who have their sons and daughters serving, they want to know everything and they want to know it fast.”

Starr wondered about Hegseth: “What is he so afraid of?” New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a biting piece about the defense secretary over the weekend titled “Fraidy-Cat at the Pentagon.” But Hegseth's boss, President Trump, has expressed support for the new media policy and Hegseth's aggressive moves mirror some of those made by the administration. The president has sued outlets like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal for their coverage of him.

Some of the outlets that accepted Hegseth's rules will have to staff up for their new roles: Just the News, for example, posted an ad online seeking a Pentagon reporter.

The Gateway Pundit's White House correspondent, Jordan Conradson, posted on Wednesday that he was excited to join the Pentagon press corps “and help restore honest journalism after agreeing to follow basic rules ... something the legacy media refuses to do!”

Lindell, whose My Pillow ads once blanketed Fox News before he joined the political media, posted a statement that LindellTV was “proud to be part of a new generation of news organizations reshaping how real information reaches the public.”

Some of the publications pronounce themselves conservative in their mission statements. The “about” page on the National Pulse features a picture of Trump.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 12:17 PM

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