2026-08-27T17:01:00-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
华盛顿——三名被解雇的《星条旗报》记者周四在联邦法院起诉国防部长皮特·赫格塞特以及另外两名五角大楼高级官员，指控特朗普政府正试图非法解雇他们，作为其对这家军事新闻机构“极端审查行动”的一部分。
原告分别是出版商马克斯·莱德、总编辑埃里克·斯拉文以及记者劳拉·科特，他们于上周收到了离职通知，给出的理由是不服从命令。
他们声称自己被解雇，一方面是因为“作为普通公民发声，支持媒体报道军事行动的自由”，另一方面则是因为他们对“亚伯拉罕·林肯”号航空母舰上恶劣状况的报道。这起诉讼将赫格塞特、五角大楼发言人肖恩·帕内尔以及助手安德鲁·布雷列为被告。
斯拉文和科特表示，解雇通知中提及的所谓不服从命令，与他们7月在哥伦比亚广播公司《周日早间》节目中接受采访时的言论有关。在这期报道中，科特称自己为《星条旗报》工作，“不是为五角大楼服务，不是为任何一届政府服务，也不是为任何政策制定者服务”。
一个多月后，该报刊发了一篇报道，详细披露了“林肯”号航母上日益严峻的心理健康问题以及食物和水资源短缺情况，该航母已部署九个月。诉讼称，报道刊发一天后，被告“命令《星条旗报》出版商原告莱德向斯拉文先生和科特女士提交离职通知”。
“通知以他们五周半前在《周日早间》节目中的言论为由，指控他们不服从命令，”诉讼文件写道。
莱德并未提交这些通知。他宣布打算在9月底退休，原因是与国防部存在“根本性”分歧，但国防部抢先一步将他解雇。
这三名被解雇员工的诉状称，他们“正面临违反第一修正案和法定权利的即时报复与解雇”。
“这一诉讼旨在制止公然侵犯这些记者第一修正案权利的行为，并挑战美国国防部‘违反第一修正案以及国防部规章和政策的极端审查行动’，”诉讼文件写道。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻已联系五角大楼寻求置评。
《星条旗报》创刊于美国内战时期，近几十年来一直以编辑独立为荣——这意味着联邦政府不会干涉其出版内容。
一位熟悉该报运营的人士上周告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，该报每年2900万美元的预算中约有一半来自纳税人。据两名美国官员透露，自越南战争、冷战和二战时期的发行量峰值以来，该报的读者数量有所下降，但日均仍有140万读者。海外印刷版还能为网络连接不稳定且不可靠的偏远地区服役人员提供新闻。
今年早些时候，帕内尔称国防部将对该报进行全面改革。他承诺要“实现运营现代化，将报道内容从分散士气的‘觉醒式’干扰议题中转移出来，并调整方向，以服务新一代服役人员”。斯拉文表示，五角大楼后来试图阻止该报刊发通讯社的 syndicated 稿件。
解雇事件发生后不久，《星条旗报》刊发了海军上尉威廉·厄本的公开信，厄本称自己被任命为出版商的军事副手。厄本在信中写道，他的工作重点是提供“最高质量的编辑独立报道”，同时推动报纸现代化并提高广告收入。
Fired Stars and Stripes journalists sue Hegseth and Pentagon spokesperson
2026-08-27T17:01:00-0400 / CBS News
Washington — Three fired Stars and Stripes journalists sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and two other top Pentagon officials in federal court Thursday, claiming the Trump administration is attempting to fire them illegally as part of its “extraordinary censorship efforts” against the military news outlet.
The plaintiffs — publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte — were given separation notices last week. The cause cited was insubordination.
They alleged that they were fired both for “speaking up as private citizens in support of the press’s freedom to cover military operations,” and because of their reporting on rough conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. The lawsuit names Hegseth, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell and aide Andrew Brey as defendants.
Slavin and Korte said the alleged insubordination cited in their termination notices was related to interviews they gave to CBS News for a piece on “CBS Sunday Morning” that aired in July. In the story, Korte said that she worked for Stars and Stripes, “not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker.”
More than a month later, the newspaper published a piece detailing flagging mental health and food and water shortages aboard the Lincoln, which has been deployed for nine months. A day after that story ran, the lawsuit says, the defendants “ordered plaintiff Max Lederer, Stripes’ publisher, to present notices of separation to Mr. Slavin and Ms. Korte.”
“The notices charged them with insubordination for the statements they made five and one-half weeks earlier on ‘CBS Sunday Morning,’” the lawsuit reads.
He did not deliver the notices. Lederer announced his intent to retire at the end of September over “fundamental” differences with the Defense Department, but the Pentagon fired him before he could.
The three fired staffers’ complaint says they are “facing imminent retaliation and termination in violation of their First Amendment and statutory rights.”
“This action seeks to prevent the blatant violation of the First Amendment rights of these journalists and challenges the U.S. Department of Defense’s (“DoD”) extraordinary censorship efforts in violation of both the First Amendment and DoD regulations and policies,” the lawsuit reads.
CBS News has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
Stars and Stripes was first published during the Civil War, and in recent decades, the paper has prided itself on its editorial independence — meaning the federal government does not dictate what it can and can’t publish.
Roughly half of the paper’s $29 million annual budget comes from taxpayers, a person familiar with the newspaper’s operations told CBS News last week. Readership has declined since its peaks during the Vietnam War, the Cold War and World War II, according to two U.S. officials, but an average of 1.4 million people see Stars and Stripes each day. Print editions overseas also reach service members in remote locations where internet access is spotty and unreliable.
Earlier this year, Parnell said the Defense Department would make sweeping changes to the paper. He vowed to “modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.” The Pentagon later sought to stop the paper from running syndicated articles by wire services, Slavin has said.
Shortly after the firings, Stars and Stripes published an open letter from Navy Capt. William Urban, who said he was tapped to serve as military deputy to the publisher. Urban wrote that his priorities were to produce “the highest quality of editorially independent reporting,” while modernizing the paper and boosting its advertising revenue.