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鈥檚 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 小萝莉影视’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 小萝莉影视 interview in which he objected to potential censorship by the U.S. military.
鈥淚 stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department鈥檚 own policies,鈥� he said.
In an interview with 小萝莉影视, 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.
In that post on X, Sean Parnell, spokesman for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, wrote: 鈥淪tars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters. 鈥� 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.鈥�
STATEMENT:
The Department of War is returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters.
We are bringing Stars & Stripes into the 21st century. We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that siphon morale,鈥�
鈥� Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW)
“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 小萝莉影视, “and that the rest of the defense press corps can do that, but at the same time, it’s harder to come by information.”
小萝莉影视’s Ralph Fox and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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