DOD ‘Undermined’ Stars And Stripes’ Independence, Suit Says (1)

The Defense Department is attempting to exert “unprecedented control” over Stars and Stripes, the longstanding military-focused newspaper, two members of the publisher’s advisory board claim.

Though decades-old Pentagon regulations governing the paper have preserved Congress’s “deliberate decision” to ensure that the daily paper is an “independent news source” that’s insulated from military command influence, in January the Pentagon’s spokesman said the agency intended to “refocus” the outlet “away ‘from woke distractions that syphon morale,’” said the complaint filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Deputy Secretary Stephen Feinberg, and department spokesman ...