Reporters Without Borders (RSF) filed an amicus curiae brief on September 3 in support of three senior Stars and Stripes journalists challenging the Department of Defense’s attempt to terminate them. The brief argues that the Pentagon’s actions threaten the editorial independence that has defined this military newspaper for generations. RSF urges the court to recognize Stars and Stripes for what it is: an independent, journalistic outlet specialized in US military community news, not a communications arm of the Pentagon.
The brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in support of Stars and Stripes editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, Middle East reporter Lara Korte, and longtime publisher Max Lederer, comes amid an escalating campaign by the Pentagon to exert greater control over the publication and its journalists. RSF is represented in this case by Jean-Paul Jassy and Matthew Schafer of Jassy Vick Carolan LLP.
“The Pentagon cannot have it both ways, claiming that Stars and Stripes is an independent news organization while punishing its journalists for acting independently. American service members and their families trust Stars and Stripes’ reporting precisely because it is journalism, not Pentagon PR. If military officials are allowed to decide which stories journalists can pursue and what they can say about their work, that independence becomes meaningless. RSF is standing with these journalists because protecting Stars and Stripes means protecting the right of the military community and the American public to receive news free from government interference."
Clayton Weimers
Executive Director, RSF North America
A legal battle over editorial independence
The three journalists sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Department of Defense (DoD), and two senior Pentagon officials on August 27 after receiving separation notices accusing them of “insubordination” and other violations. They are seeking temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief to prevent their terminations, which they argue constitute retaliation for protected speech and violate both the First Amendment and DoD regulations.
Although it operates within and is partly funded by the Department of Defense, the publication remains editorially independent and is intended to provide service members and their families with accurate news rather than official military messaging. Stars and Stripes operates under a hybrid funding model, with roughly half of its funding coming from DoD appropriations and the other half generated through advertising, subscriptions, newspaper sales, and other commercial activities. The newsroom has historically operated behind an editorial firewall separating military command from editorial decisions. DoD rules protect its journalists’ ability to report critically on the Pentagon without censorship or interference, while an independent ombudsman recruited from outside DoD provides oversight and can raise threats to editorial independence with Congress.
The legal dispute centers on comments Slavin and Korte made during a July 5 segment of the news show “Sunday Morning” on television broadcaster CBS about the newspaper’s editorial independence. When asked what would constitute a red line, Slavin replied that the line would be crossed if the Pentagon told the paper not to publish an accurate story and instead publish one supplied by the DoD. Korte said that she worked for Stars and Stripes, “not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker.” The Pentagon subsequently cited those statements in its accusations against both journalists of “insubordination.”
The timing of the disciplinary action is also central to the lawsuit, according to a statement the three journalists shared with RSF. On August 11, Stars and Stripes published an investigation detailing food and water shortages, disrupted mail service, long working hours, and mental and physical strain among the approximately 5,000 sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The next day, Pentagon official Andrew Brey ordered Lederer to deliver notices of separation to Slavin and Korte over the comments they had made on television more than five weeks earlier. Lederer decided to announce his retirement rather than participate in the firings, but he was given a notice of separation before his retirement took effect.
“Our goal is to protect the rights of service members and their families to a free and independent press,” the three journalists told RSF. “Stars and Stripes has served them for generations, and that independence is essential to keeping military communities fully and accurately informed. This lawsuit is about safeguarding that mission and ensuring our civilian and military journalists can do their jobs without retaliation.”
The Pentagon’s tightening grip on Stars and Stripes
The terminations are the latest in a series of Pentagon actions this year that have progressively eroded the institutional safeguards for Stars and Stripes. On January 15, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced that the department would return the publication to what he called its “original mission: reporting for our warfighters,” while eliminating what he described as “woke distractions” without identifying any examples. The same day, the Pentagon purportedly repealed longstanding regulations that protected the publication’s editorial independence, without notice or an opportunity for public comment.
On March 9, Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg issued a “modernization” memorandum imposing sweeping new restrictions. It barred commercially purchased content, including cartoons, restricted the publication of certain unclassified information, and prohibited content deemed inconsistent with the “good order and discipline” of the military. It also made Stars and Stripes accountable to department leadership for its budget, performance, and “strategic modernization,” while claiming its editorial operations would remain independent of the military chain of command. When the publication’s ombudsman Jacqueline Smith publicly criticized those measures, the Pentagon fired her in April. Her dismissal is now the subject of separate litigation.
Stars and Stripes has provided news to the US military community for more than 160 years, beginning as a newspaper produced by Union soldiers during the Civil War and later revived under General John J. Pershing for American forces in World War I. The paper has been published continuously since 1942.
Read the full amicus curiae brief here.