Three fired journalists from Stars and Stripes, the independent news organization covering the U.S. military, have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense (the Pentagon).
The lawsuit, filed in a district court in Washington, D.C., alleges that press freedom has been undermined and the constitutional right to free speech violated. The news was reported by Al Jazeera Online.
The three journalists who filed the suit are the newspaper’s publisher, Max Lederer; editor-in-chief Erik Slavin; and Middle East correspondent Lara Korte. Termination notices were sent to them from the Pentagon last week, accusing them of “insubordination.” They say this legal action was taken in protest of interference with press freedom under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The dispute between the news organization and the Trump administration originated largely from an interview given on CBS Sunday Morning last July. In that interview, the journalists expressed concern about censorship, saying their primary goal was to provide independent and impartial news coverage for members of the military.
The Trump administration had reportedly been angered by the outlet’s bold reporting on sensitive issues, including supply shortages and sailors’ psychological struggles aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. The firings are believed to be retaliation for that coverage.
The fired journalists called for protecting the editorial independence of this historic news organization, which has been published since the U.S. Civil War, and for it to be allowed to continue its work without fear.