1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

Defend Stars and Stripes Editorial Independence — Stop the Pentagon Purge The Pentagon just fired the editor in chief, publisher, and a reporter at Stars and Stripes — and you need to act. Editor Erik Slavin was pushed out for publicly stating that censorship of military news would be a red line. That's not insubordination. That's exactly the kind of editorial backbone that a free press requires, and that federal law mandates for Stars and Stripes. This is a pattern, not an incident. The Pentagon already terminated the paper's congressional ombudsman in April, barred wire services, and imposed a requirement that content align with "good order and discipline" — language lifted from the UCMJ and applied to journalism. History is unambiguous about what happens when governments seize control of the press that serves their own troops. Service members who swore to defend the Constitution deserve independent reporting, not state-managed public relations. Demand a full congressional investigation into Pentagon interference with Stars and Stripes. Restore the ombudsman role. Reinstate the fired staff. The editorial independence of this paper is not a bureaucratic preference — it is the law.