By Brian Stelter, NCS
(NCS) — The Trump administration is exerting political strain on Stars & Stripes, the independent military newspaper that informs US servicemembers worldwide.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell introduced Thursday that the Department of Defense will “modernize” the outlet and “refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.”
Parnell’s assertion got here as a shock to staffers at Stars & Stripes, who haven’t heard straight about any adjustments but, and who now worry that the information outlet’s independence and credibility is in danger.
The assertion additionally drew swift criticism from a number of Democratic lawmakers and First Amendment advocates.
“The Pentagon is trying to turn this independent newsroom into a mouthpiece for the administration’s political messaging,” stated Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation program director for PEN America. “This action tramples both the First Amendment and the congressional mandate that the publication remain editorially independent.”
Congress has repeatedly affirmed and sought to defend the newspaper’s distinctive standing.
Stars & Stripes is a product of the US military and is partly funded by the Pentagon, however it fashions itself after business newspapers and covers the information freely, “without news management or censorship,” as Department of Defense coverage states.
“By keeping its audience informed, Stars and Stripes enhances military readiness and better enables U.S. military personnel and their families stationed overseas to exercise their responsibilities of citizenship,” the newspaper’s web site says.
Parnell, a shut ally of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, described a few particular changes. “No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints,” he wrote.
Like many papers, Stars & Stripes runs wire tales from The Associated Press and Reuters, however Pentagon officers instructed right-wing web site The Daily Wire that “this will no longer be the case.”
The Daily Wire additionally reported that all the paper’s content material “will be written by active-duty service members,” which alarmed the civilian workers who at present write tales.
Parnell described Stars & Stripes as being “custom tailored to our warfighters” going ahead, prompting some journalists to say that the paper already is.
With no additional particulars about what’s subsequent, “people are obviously concerned about what this means for our ability to produce journalism going forward,” a Stripes staffer instructed NCS on situation of anonymity.
Richardson, of PEN America, urged Congress to “continue to protect Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence and ensure the administration allows it to serve military members free from political influence.”
The-NCS-Wire
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