The editor-in-chief of the US military newspaper Stars and Stripes was dismissed by the Department of Defense for insubordination, prompting concerns about press freedom and military oversight. Erik Slavin, who has served at the publication for 21 years, stated that he believes his termination related to comments he made during an interview with CBS’s Sunday Morning programme last month, in which he indicated that censorship would constitute a boundary he would not cross. A reporter, Lara Korte, and the newspaper’s publisher, Max Lederer, were also dismissed in connection with the same media appearance.
Slavan told the BBC that Pentagon officials appeared increasingly unwilling to speak publicly on the record, and he emphasized the importance of maintaining access to information during the current period. He noted that he had not received an official explanation for his dismissal and was not permitted to appeal the decision. Slavin indicated uncertainty about whether his firing was connected to the newspaper’s coverage of conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, a naval vessel that has maintained an extended deployment in the Gulf amid ongoing regional tensions.
Stars and Stripes, which receives partial funding from the Pentagon but operates under congressional mandate and Defense Department rules that guarantee editorial independence, has approximately 1.4 million daily consumers of its content, primarily through online platforms. The dismissals occur within a broader context of tension between the Trump administration and news media organizations. In October, major news outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and the BBC rejected a Pentagon policy requiring journalists to obtain authorization before reporting military information. Mark Schoeff Jr., president of the National Press Club, characterized Slavin’s termination as an inappropriate attempt to control military coverage and called for its reversal.
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