Pentagon Puts Its Own Press Officer in Charge of Stars and Stripes

Pentagon Puts Its Own Press Officer in Charge of Stars and Stripes

A memo from Oct. 8 landed on Oct. 13

Axios reported on Oct. 13 that the Pentagon has named Christian Devine, its executive director and principal adviser for public affairs policy, as acting publisher of Stars and Stripes, effective immediately, until a permanent publisher is hired. The Oct. 8 memo was signed by chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell in his capacity as assistant to the defense secretary. It is the first time the military newspaper, which claims First Amendment protection, has had a chief executive since three of its leaders were fired in August.

One man, two hats: newsroom and PR office

Devine keeps his Pentagon job. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, the paper's military deputy to the publisher, said Devine will split his time between the two roles until a permanent publisher arrives. That puts a single official inside both the office that shapes the military's public message and the newsroom charged with covering the Defense Department independently. Devine is a retired Marine Corps colonel who left active duty this summer for the civilian Pentagon post.

The official line: editorial independence stays

Parnell told Military.com the Pentagon was proud to appoint Devine, calling him a seasoned public affairs leader whose appointment would ensure Stars and Stripes "maintains editorial independence" while delivering "decisive leadership" to modernize the paper. Though funded by the Defense Department, the newspaper's charter and tradition demand independence from military messaging, which is exactly the point of contention.

The paper left the key questions unanswered

Military.com asked Stars and Stripes how much authority Devine will have over editorial and personnel decisions, and what safeguards will separate his two roles. The paper did not immediately respond. The hard question is what backs "editorial independence" when the publisher is himself a Pentagon public affairs officer, and unions, press groups and lawmakers are expected to keep asking it.

August's firings created the vacancy

The acting-publisher slot exists because of dismissals on Aug. 21. Longtime publisher Max D. Lederer Jr. refused a Pentagon order to fire editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East correspondent Lara Korte, and all three were then fired for what the department called insubordination. Earlier, the paper's ombudsman, whose job was to safeguard editorial integrity, had also been removed. Lederer had spent 30 years at Stars and Stripes, nearly 20 of them as publisher.

A CBS interview lit the fuse

The stated trigger was a CBS television interview in late June. Lederer described his red line: if the Pentagon told the paper not to run "a perfectly accurate story" and to run a Pentagon-written one instead, he would refuse. Korte said on air that she worked for Stars and Stripes, not the Pentagon. The department later cited insubordination; Lederer said nobody answered his question about why they were not simply exercising First Amendment rights.

The fired journalists sued the Pentagon

On Aug. 27, the three fired journalists sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, spokesperson Parnell, the Defense Department and public affairs official Andrew Brey, alleging the firings were unlawful retaliation for unflattering coverage and violated free-speech protections and the department's own regulations. The suit points to the paper's reporting on harsh living conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during an extended deployment. A court had already denied a request to immediately reinstate the fired ombudsman.

No timeline for a permanent publisher

The Pentagon has given no timeline for choosing a permanent publisher and no details on what "modernization" will mean. The lawsuit is pending, and no new independence safeguards have been put in place. For Stars and Stripes, a transition under a public-affairs publisher is itself a live test of independence: everyone will be watching how the paper covers the Pentagon next.