One of the Stars and Stripes staffers fired by the Pentagon said changes at the military newspaper could threaten its ability to cover news important to U.S. service members and their families.
Eric Slavin, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, was fired Friday. Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer and Middle East reporter Lara Korte also lost their jobs.
“It was quite a shock,” Slavin told WTOP’s Ralph Fox. “It’s not what I expected when I woke up on Friday, but really concerns are more for our service members and our families and what may lay ahead.”
Slavin previously told The Associated Press he was dismissed for insubordination after a CBS News interview in which he objected to potential censorship by the U.S. military.
“I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies,” he said.
In an interview with WTOP, Slavin said tensions existed between the Pentagon and Stars and Stripes staff since January.
“There was a tweet put out by the Department of Defense Public Affairs that suggested radical changes without any prior consultation with the staff of Stars and Stripes,” he said.
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In that post on X, Sean Parnell, spokesman for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, wrote: “Stars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters. … It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”
“My initial thought was it was going to be a lot harder to provide breaking news and a complete news picture for service members,” Slavin said of the directive to stop using The Associated Press as a source.
Slavin gave examples including a strike at an airport near a U.S. base in Italy, and the current situation in Tehran. Stars and Stripes does not have staff in Italy, and cannot send reporters to Iran.
“I certainly hope that we can continue to provide accurate news and information,” Slavin told WTOP, “and that the rest of the defense press corps can do that, but at the same time, it’s harder to come by information.”
WTOP’s Ralph Fox and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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