The Defense Department has begun exerting greater control over Stars and Stripes, the independent military newspaper that has served U.S. troops since World War II. The changes come weeks after a top Pentagon spokesman publicly criticized the publication for focusing on what he called 'woke distractions.'

The Pentagon issued a memo dated March 9, effective immediately, announcing what it calls 'modernization' changes. A copy of the memo was first reported by Stars and Stripes on Friday and subsequently obtained by NPR. The memo states that Stars and Stripes will continue to 'operate with editorial independence,' but the newspaper must immediately begin implementing new interim policies and stop publishing several types of content.

The memo declares that the publication's content 'must be consistent with good order and discipline,' a phrase used in military justice. This provision has raised concerns among press freedom advocates and the newspaper's own leadership.

What the Right Is Saying

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Trump administration officials have defended the changes as necessary modernization. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in an emailed statement that the Defense Department 'is returning Stars and Stripes to its original mission: an independent news source for service members stationed overseas that is by the warfighter and for the warfighter.'

Parnell added that the changes mean the newspaper 'will evolve' to 'meet industry trends and changes in how new generations of service members consume media.'

In a January post on X, Parnell had written: '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.'

The administration has pointed to declining readership and changing media consumption habits among younger service members as justification for restructuring the publication. The Pentagon has also noted that Stars and Stripes will still maintain editorial independence in its day-to-day operations.

What the Left Is Saying

Progressive Democrats and press freedom organizations have condemned the Pentagon's actions as a threat to independent military journalism. Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has previously raised concerns about military control over the newspaper, arguing that Stars and Stripes' independence is essential for informing service members.

Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation program director at PEN America, said in a statement: 'Service members and military families rely on Stars and Stripes for independent reporting, not for material shaped or dictated by the very officials the paper is supposed to hold accountable.'

Stars and Stripes editor-in-chief Erik Slavin told NPR he is particularly concerned about the 'good order and discipline' language, which could subject military member reporters to court-martial under the uniform code of military justice. 'If they were to complete a story that the Defense Department did not like, and did not find consistent with good order and discipline, would they be in legal jeopardy? We don't know the answer to that,' Slavin said.

The newspaper has historically enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress. Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about the withdrawal of the federal regulation that underpinned the newspaper's independent status, which occurred in January.

What the Numbers Show

Stars and Stripes was first published during the Civil War and has been published continuously since World War II. The newspaper is owned by the Defense Department but has operated independently by Congressional mandate since the 1990s.

The new memo prohibits Stars and Stripes from publishing most stories from wire services like the Associated Press or Reuters. This restriction affects coverage of war zones, including the new conflict in Iran where U.S. military readers may be deployed, as well as popular content like the March Madness college basketball tournament.

The memo also explicitly bans comic strips from publication. Additionally, it requires the newspaper's ombudsman to send information meant for Congress to the Defense Department first, rather than directly to federal legislators.

In September 2025, Hegseth unveiled a policy requiring media outlets to pledge not to gather information unless defense officials had formally authorized its release. Most established news organizations, including NPR, chose to surrender their press passes rather than agree to those conditions.

In 2020, during Trump's first term, the Pentagon threatened to shut down Stars and Stripes before Trump intervened, calling it 'a wonderful source of information to our Great Military!' in a social media post.

The Bottom Line

The Pentagon's new memo represents the latest effort to restructure Stars and Stripes, a publication that has operated with editorial independence for decades. The newspaper's staff is scheduled to meet to determine how to comply with the new requirements.

The changes are likely to significantly limit what information service members stationed overseas can access through Stars and Stripes, particularly regarding war zone coverage. Press freedom advocates argue this undermines the newspaper's ability to serve its core function.

Slavin told NPR the Defense Department had not responded to his efforts to communicate since the January criticism. The Pentagon did not send the new memo directly to Stars and Stripes — the editor-in-chief learned about it three days after its issuance when a staffer found it on a Defense Department website.