Publisher Max Lederer, editor Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte face dismissal notices over alleged insubordination, intensifying a dispute over editorial independence

Washington was unsettled on Friday as the Pentagon moved to dismiss Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte, deepening a dispute over the editorial independence of the US military news organisation.

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The three journalists received separation notices on Friday, with Lederer and Slavin given five days to appeal their proposed dismissals.

Korte also confirmed that she had received a termination notice. The Pentagon cited insubordination as the reason for the action.

For Slavin and Korte, the alleged insubordination relates to interviews they gave CBS News for a CBS Sunday Morning report broadcast in July. Slavin said his comments about protecting the newspaper’s independence were specifically cited in his notice.

“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line,” Slavin said.

He added that he intended to use the required appeal process and remained committed to the principle that Stars and Stripes should operate independently of the Pentagon.

“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.

Korte similarly defended the outlet’s role, saying the proposed dismissals represented a troubling development for military personnel and their families.

“I’m working for Stars and Stripes. Not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker.

I’m here to cover the military community,” Korte said in the July CBS programme.

In a statement following the dismissal notice, she described the action as “a shame for the institution and service members”, adding that she was proud of the work carried out by her colleagues.

The Pentagon did not provide an immediate response to CBS News when asked about the dismissals.

White House adviser Stephen Miller, however, said he was confident that anyone dismissed had been removed “for just cause”.

The dispute comes at a sensitive moment for Stars and Stripes, which has long occupied an unusual position within the US military establishment.

Although it receives taxpayer support, the publication has traditionally maintained a distinct editorial identity and serves military personnel and their families around the world.

The organisation’s editorial independence has also received explicit congressional protection.

A 2013 federal law included provisions intended to preserve the actual and perceived independence of Stars and Stripes by requiring geographical separation between its editorial operations and the Defense Media Activity.

That history gives the current dispute significance beyond the fate of three employees.

Lederer, who has served as publisher for 19 years, had already announced plans to retire on September 30.

In a message to staff earlier this week, he said his understanding of the newspaper’s mission differed fundamentally from the direction being pursued by the Department of Defense.

“It has become clear that my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization,” Lederer wrote.

CBS News had reported before Friday’s action that Pentagon officials were considering removing Lederer before his planned retirement.

The confrontation also follows a broader push by Pentagon officials to reshape the organisation.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell has previously spoken of bringing Stars and Stripes “into the 21st century”, while advocating changes to its content and operations.

He has described the objective as adapting the outlet to a new generation of service members and moving it away from what he characterised as “woke distractions”.

The newspaper has continued to report on contentious issues involving the US military.

Its recent coverage, alongside Military Times, examined difficult conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, including concerns expressed by families about the mental health of service members during a lengthy deployment.

The reporting was subsequently challenged or downplayed by Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump, according to CBS News. The carrier has since begun its journey home after a nine-month deployment.

Despite its long history, Stars and Stripes is also confronting the financial and technological pressures facing modern news organisations.

The publication has an annual budget of about $29 million, with roughly half coming from taxpayer funding, according to a person familiar with its operations.

Its average daily audience is estimated at about 1.4 million, while overseas print editions remain important to service members stationed in locations where internet access can be unreliable. (CBS News)

Shortly after the dismissal reports emerged, Captain William Urban, who was recently appointed military deputy to the publisher, published an open letter outlining his priorities for the organisation.

Urban called for “the highest quality of editorially independent reporting”, greater use of digital content to generate advertising revenue and a broader modernisation of the organisation’s operations. (CBS News)

His intervention underscored the competing pressures now facing the publication: maintaining its distinctive editorial mission while modernising its business model and responding to changing expectations from the Pentagon.

For the Stars and Stripes editors facing dismissal, however, the central issue is more fundamental.

Slavin and Korte have framed their positions around the principle that a military publication can receive public funding while still retaining the freedom to report independently on the people it serves.

The Pentagon’s decision to proceed with separation notices, particularly as Lederer had already announced his impending retirement, has therefore intensified questions about where administrative oversight ends and editorial control begins.

The five-day appeal period now gives the affected journalists an opportunity to challenge the proposed dismissals.

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The outcome could have consequences well beyond three individual careers, potentially shaping the future relationship between the Pentagon and one of the US military community’s most enduring news institutions.