Lara Korte and Erik Slavin #

Introduction #

Lara Korte and Erik Slavin are journalists for Stars and Stripes, the newspaper for the U.S. military that is partly funded by the Pentagon and whose editorial independence is required by law. Slavin was the paper’s editor in chief; Korte was a civilian reporter covering the Middle East. On August 21, 2026, the Pentagon fired both of them, along with the paper’s longtime publisher Max Lederer Jr., for insubordination, after they spoke publicly against any interference by the Defense Department in the military news outlet.

Background Information #

Slavin joined Stars and Stripes in 2005 as a reporter in Japan, later embedding with U.S. forces in Iraq, reporting in South Korea, and overseeing news operations in Europe and the Middle East; he was named the paper’s top editor in September 2025. Korte joined the paper in December 2024 and was based at its European headquarters in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where she lived alongside members of the military community and reported heavily on the U.S. war against Iran. Lederer had worked for Stars and Stripes for more than three decades and had been publisher since 2007.

The Pentagon had spent months tightening its grip on the paper. In March 2026 it outlined an overhaul that barred Stars and Stripes from using some news wire services and running comics and other syndicated features, and required content consistent with “good order and discipline,” a phrase borrowed from the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In April 2026 it fired the paper’s ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, whose role, established by Congress, had been to safeguard the paper’s editorial independence.

A few weeks before the dismissals, the Pentagon installed Navy Capt. William Urban, an active-duty service member, as a new deputy publisher under Lederer without his prior knowledge; the Thursday before, three Democratic senators wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking why Urban had been installed. That same week, Lederer announced his retirement, effective at the end of September, telling staff in a memo that his understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes differed in “fundamental ways” from the Pentagon’s direction.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from the Defense Department’s separation process, which characterized the dismissals as insubordination. The insubordination findings were never admitted by Korte or Slavin, never criminally charged, and never adjudicated in court. Both deny wrongdoing and say they were fired for asserting the paper’s legally mandated editorial independence.

The immediate trigger was a television interview. In a CBS Sunday Morning feature the previous month, Slavin said it was imperative for Stars and Stripes to provide independent news to troops, and that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line in the Pentagon’s efforts to exert control over the newspaper: “If we can’t do that, if we were turned into something other than that, if we were public relations,” he said, that would be something on which he would be unwilling to compromise. Korte appeared in the same segment, saying she worked for Stars and Stripes — not for the Pentagon or for any administration or policymaker. “I’m here to cover the military community,” she said.

On Friday, August 21, 2026, the Pentagon moved to fire Slavin, Korte, and Lederer; a Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the separation notices. Slavin said he was being fired “for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line.” “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 in a statement Friday. He said he had received a notice of proposed separation and was reviewing it.

Korte said on X that she was informed that day that the Department of Defense was firing her for insubordination after she told a CBS reporter: “I work for Stars and Stripes — not the Pentagon, not the administration, and not any policy maker.” In a statement, she called it a “great privilege” to live alongside service members and share their stories, saying, “These firings are a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press,” she said.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. called the firing of Slavin “another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military” and said it should be immediately reversed. “Firing a newspaper editor after he publicly defended his newsroom’s editorial independence is deeply troubling, and it should concern every journalist and every member of the U.S. military who depends on independent reporting,” he said.

Urban posted an open letter on Stars and Stripes saying he was now “part of a team, committed to editorially independent journalism” and told The Associated Press the paper had “a strong team of professional journalists” whose mission of serving service members and their families was “going to continue.” He declined to comment on what his role would be in the future. When asked for comment on the separations, the anonymous Pentagon official referred Stars and Stripes to Urban’s open letter, and Lederer did not respond to a request for comment.

Current Status #

As of the reports published August 21, 2026, Slavin was reviewing his notice of proposed separation, and it was unclear whether Urban, currently titled “military deputy to the publisher,” would become head publisher. Lederer remained slated to retire on September 30 after more than 30 years with the paper. Urban said he would focus on expanding the paper’s digital journalism for young service members he described as “digital natives.”

Impact on Their Career/Life #

For Slavin, the dismissal ended his tenure as editor in chief less than a year after he was named to the top job, cutting short a Stars and Stripes career that had taken him from Japan to Iraq, South Korea, Europe, and the Middle East over two decades. For Korte, it came less than two years after she joined the paper and ended her role covering the Middle East and the war against Iran from Kaiserslautern. Both framed their firings not as misconduct but as the cost of defending the independent journalism the paper is required by law to provide; Korte called them “a shame for the institution and service members.”