US Edition
Pentagon fires ombudsman overseeing military newspaper after calling it ‘woke’
Jacqueline Smith says she was removed after warning the overhaul could undermine Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence, as Congress considers stronger protections.
- The Pentagon notified Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith on Tuesday that her final day is April 28, ending her congressionally mandated role via Form 3434.
- Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Sean Parnell announced a 'refocus' of Stars and Stripes on January 15, followed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Feinberg's interim policy on March 9 to control content.
- Rep Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and 38 House members sent a letter on April 15 expressing 'great alarm' about 'reports of political interference' with Stars and Stripes' editorial independence.
- Congress created the ombudsman role in 1991 to protect Stars and Stripes from Department interference; Smith's removal eliminates this oversight, leaving the newspaper without a dedicated advocate.
- Rep Raskin encouraged Republicans to co-sponsor legislation protecting press independence, arguing an independent press under the First Amendment is not a partisan issue as congressional scrutiny intensifies.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Fired Pentagon paper watchdog sounds alarm on CNN: 'Very real threat'
The ombudsman of the Pentagon's paper of record warned that her sudden firing doesn't bode well for the publication's future independence."There's a very real threat," Jaqueline Smith, the Stars and Stripes ombudsman who was fired on Wednesday, said on "Erin Burnett OutFront" on Friday about the att...
The Independent
The Independent (US)Hegseth’s Pentagon fires watchdog for its own military publication Stars and Stripes
‘Apparently the Pentagon also doesn’t want you to hear from me anymore about threats to the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes. They fired me,’ ombudsman Jacqueline Smith wrote
Straight Arrow News
ussanews.comShe tried to preserve military newspaper’s editorial independence. Now she’s losing her job
The Pentagon has fired a top editor at Stars and Stripes, the newspaper for U.S. service members at home and abroad, after she complained about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s interference with the publication’s editorial independence. Ombudsman Jaqueline Smith lost her job three months after the Pentagon announced it was taking control of Stars and Stripes, even though Congress mandated decades ago that it operate independently of military com…
Pentagon fires Stars and Stripes’s independence watchdog
The Pentagon recently ousted the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes’s ombudsman, the person meant to monitor the outlet’s editorial independence and report concerns to Congress. “Apparently the Pentagon also doesn’t want you to hear from me anymore about threats to the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes. They fired me,” Jacqueline Smith, wrote Thursday in…
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