The Pentagon has fired the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, Erik Slavin, days after he gave an interview to CBS News Sunday Morning in which he described censorship of the military-focused publication as a "red line". Slavin said he was dismissed on grounds of insubordination for stating that news censorship affecting service members would be unacceptable, prompting fresh concern that the Pentagon is undermining the outlet's long-standing editorial independence.

Also terminated were publisher Max Lederer, who had recently announced his retirement, and reporter Lara Korte, who had likewise spoken to CBS News; Korte said she was told she was being fired for insubordination after stating she worked for Stars and Stripes rather than for the Pentagon or any administration. A Pentagon official confirmed the separation notices but the department declined further comment. Stars and Stripes, published continuously since the Second World War, receives roughly half its funding from the Pentagon and is legally required to remain editorially independent; the CBS report had also noted the recent removal of a federal regulation guaranteeing it operates "without news management or censorship" and the earlier firing of its ombudsman. Separately, a newly appointed military deputy to the publisher, Navy Capt. Bill Urban, insisted there were "no external editorial curbs" on the paper's journalists and urged staff to "carry on and ignore the noise".