Three journalists who say they lost their jobs for doing exactly what Stars and Stripes was created to do—report independently on the military—have sued the Pentagon over the dismissals. Publisher Max Lederer Jr., editor in chief Erik Slavin, and Middle East correspondent Lara Korte argue that the removals violated the First Amendment and are part of a broader effort by the Defense Department to rein in the 160-year-old, congressionally funded but editorially independent outlet, the New York Times reports.
According to the suit, the Pentagon escalated after Stars and Stripes detailed food and water shortages, grueling hours, and declining health aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, a carrier on an extended, record-setting deployment to the Middle East. A day later, the journalists say, the department moved against Slavin and Korte; all three were officially dismissed last Friday, with notices citing insubordination and an "unauthorized" CBS News interview about censorship concerns. The case challenges new Defense Department rules that scrapped long-standing protections for the paper's independence, barred comics and wire stories, and required content to align with "good order and discipline."
A Defense Department spokesman declined to comment. In a statement, per the Washington Post, Lederer, Slavin, and Korte wrote: "Our goal is to protect the rights of service members and their families to a free and independent press. Stars and Stripes has served them for generations, and that independence is essential to keeping military communities fully and accurately informed."
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