The Pentagon fired the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes for insubordination. The U.S. military newspaper exists to cover the military. The military runs the military newspaper. The editor apparently forgot this organizational chart.
Insubordination is when you tell your boss to f*ck off. The Pentagon is the boss of everyone who works at the Pentagon-funded newspaper. This relationship was evidently unclear until Friday.
Stars and Stripes has covered wars since 1861. The newspaper survived the Civil War, both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the entire Global War on Terror. It could not survive one editor deciding chain of command was more of a suggestion.
The Defense Department pays for the paper. The Defense Department employs the staff. The Defense Department owns the printing presses. One guy thought editorial independence meant he could ignore direct orders from the people who sign his checks. Bold strategy.
This is like a Walmart greeter telling the Walton family to shove it and expecting a promotion. The greeter does not set policy. The greeter greets. The editor edits what the people funding the operation allow him to edit.
No word yet on whether the fired editor plans to start a Substack about journalistic integrity. He'll have plenty of time. His next employer will definitely want to hire the guy who got canned for refusing orders. That's exactly the risk profile corporate America craves.
The acting editor will presumably follow instructions. Revolutionary concept at a military-run publication.
Photo by Aidan Tottori on Unsplash
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