DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, HOST:
This week, the Pentagon fired three people from Stars and Stripes, a government-funded outlet that covers the Defense Department. A reporter, the publisher and the editor in chief were given notice the department was terminating them. The firings are the latest in a series of moves by the military to exert greater control over the publication. Lara Korte covered the Middle East for Stars and Stripes. She joins us now from Germany, where she lives alongside members of the military. Welcome, Lara.
LARA KORTE: Thanks for having me, Danielle.
KURTZLEBEN: Sure. So tell us, when did you learn that Pentagon officials had fired you, and what was your reaction?
KORTE: Yeah. This happened yesterday, almost exactly 24 hours ago. We were working on putting out a story, a story I've been working on for a while now, and we got the notice in our emails. It came as a shock, to say the least. I'm still processing it, still, you know, trying to figure out what this all means. But, you know, we're staying positive.
KURTZLEBEN: Now, you wrote online that your firing was because of an interview you gave to CBS, along with editor-in-chief Erik Slavin. Let's listen to a portion of that interview.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CBS SUNDAY MORNING")
KORTE: I'm working for Stars and Stripes, not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker.
KURTZLEBEN: Why did those comments constitute a fireable offense in the eyes of the government?
KORTE: You know, per the separation notice, they said that that was insubordination. But from my point of view, I was just reaffirming what the Pentagon has already said in its own policies and what has been longstanding tradition that Stars and Stripes is editorially independent. We have been very fortunate that we do not have government control over the contents of our paper. And so by saying that I work for Stars and Stripes, I feel like I was simply asserting what the Pentagon itself has said.
KURTZLEBEN: Now, that CBS story itself was about other recent developments at Stars and Stripes, like the Pentagon rescinding a regulation that maintains the paper's independence earlier this year. Has the editorial climate at Stars and Stripes changed in recent months?
KORTE: You know, I said this in the CBS interview that I had not been stopped from reporting as I usually do. I've been a reporter for a long time now, and I was able to conduct my work in the same way that I've always conducted it at Stars and Stripes. There was nobody telling us what to write or what we couldn't write. As other people have said before me, I think that's really critical to earning the trust of our readers and the trust of the military community. So as far as I could see, nothing had changed at that point.
KURTZLEBEN: Now, yesterday, a Navy captain, Bill Urban, published an open letter on the Stars and Stripes website. He wrote, quote, "I received multiple assurances that the Office of the Secretary of War was committed to the editorial independence of Stripes." How do you respond to that?
KORTE: I'm glad to hear that that is something that the Pentagon continues to affirm. I truly hope that continues to be true. Like I said, we've been, you know, able to operate independently for a very long time. Stars and Stripes has been around since the Civil War. This is something that - a principle that the journalists at Stars and Stripes, I think, hold really near and dear to their hearts. And, you know, these are important issues we're reporting on, and I think being able to maintain independence is extremely critical. And I think that, you know, service members should be proud that the government is willing to help fund a publication that does independent reporting. I think that only adds to the credibility of the Pentagon and the paper itself.
KURTZLEBEN: Do you still think that Stars and Stripes is editorially independent?
KORTE: That's a good question, right (laughter)? It's the kind of thing that needs to be proven. It's been stated many times, and I'm glad to see that it's been stated. But I think that answer will come out in the coming, you know, weeks and months. I think it is vital to the mission of the paper and the mission of the military that we remain editorially independent and able to report on the facts of what is happening to our military community.
KURTZLEBEN: Stars and Stripes gets about half of its funding from the Pentagon. So for those who say the newspaper shouldn't have been reporting information critical or potentially harmful to the department, what do you say?
KORTE: It's also written in statute and policy that we have editorial independence. You know, there's broader arguments to be made as to why that's important. There's a reason that we have the First Amendment. Transparency is important when it comes to the government. And I feel like it's critical for service members and their families, especially, to know that the information that they're getting is factual and true and not in any way influenced by the government. I think that separation is just incredibly vital.
KURTZLEBEN: I want to ask about your reporting, because you've reported closely on how the Iran war has affected service members. What do you think your reporting revealed about this war that the public should know?
KORTE: Something that I have reported on pretty closely is the evacuation of military families and civilian employees attached to the Department of Defense out of Bahrain. There is a naval base in Bahrain that has families attached to it. It's the only base in the region where families are allowed to accompany their service members. And they were evacuated very quickly, and in some cases, in a really scary environment. I talked to parents who were hiding with their young toddlers for days in closets, listening to drones hit high-rises.
And now, you know, it's six months out, and they've been evacuated, and thank goodness they are safe. But, you know, now they're dealing with a situation where they don't really know where home is at. And I talked to a lot of them this week, and they basically expressed frustration about not knowing where they're going to live next. They also, you know, are struggling with the finances of this. One person told me that they fronted $40,000 at this point to pay for rental cars and Airbnbs, and that their kids are sleeping on the floor of temporary housing. These folks are really frustrated with the system and looking for answers from the Pentagon.
KURTZLEBEN: That's Lara Korte, who covered the Middle East for Stars and Stripes. She was fired on Friday by the Pentagon. Thank you so much, Lara.
KORTE: Thank you, Danielle.
KURTZLEBEN: And we should note we reached out to the Pentagon to ask why it fired the three staffers at Stars and Stripes and to ask about the outlet's editorial independence. We haven't heard back. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
