Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth targets news outlets, leakers

Jan. 15, 2026 | Defense Department announces overhaul of military newspaper, calling it ‘woke’

Jan. 15, 2026 | Defense Department announces overhaul of military newspaper, calling it ‘woke’

The Department of Defense announced plans on Jan. 15, 2026, to take over editorial decision-making for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, in a move that jeopardizes its long-held editorial independence.

In a statement posted to social media, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell defended the move as “returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters.”

“We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members,” he continued. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”

While the newspaper is partially funded by the Pentagon and its staffers are department employees, the outlet reported that it is directed to emulate the best practices of commercial news organizations and provide a free flow of “news and information to its readership without news management or censorship.”

Stars and Stripes Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin wrote in a Jan. 15 note to staff that the military deserves independent news.

“The people who risk their lives in defense of the Constitution have earned the right to the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” Slavin wrote. “We will not compromise on serving them with accurate and balanced coverage, holding military officials to account when called for.”

The Daily Wire reported that department officials told the outlet that Stars and Stripes’ content will no longer be written by its civilian staff but by active-duty service members. Half the newspaper’s content will be generated by the Pentagon, including materials written by the department and images captured by combat cameras.

Stars and Stripes reported that its ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, said the changes would amount to “unnecessary control and the perception of propaganda.” The ombudsman is a congressionally mandated position tasked with ensuring the outlet’s editorial independence.

“That is public relations, not independent journalism,” she said. “The other ‘fifty percent’ of the content would hold no credibility.”

The news came the day after The Washington Post reported that applicants for positions at the newspaper were being asked, “How would you advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”

Leadership at Stars and Stripes wasn’t aware of the questions until asked about them, Smith told the Post, later confirming that they had been added by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management without notifying them.

“Asking prospective employees how they would support the administration’s policies is antithetical to Stripes’ journalistic and federally mandated mission,” Smith told the Post. “Journalistically, it’s against ethics, because reporters or any staff member — editors, photographers — should be impartial.”

Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee told Stars and Stripes that any efforts to infringe on the newspaper’s editorial independence amounted to an attack on the First Amendment, with several voicing support for the newspaper. None of the Republican lawmakers contacted by Stars and Stripes responded to requests for comment.