Kansas journalism grad sues the Pentagon after being fired from Stars and Stripes

LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas journalism graduate is suing the Pentagon after being fired from the Stars and Stripes for comments about the military publication’s editorial freedom.

Lara Korte received a notice of separation from the Pentagon on Aug. 21, along with editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and publisher Max Lederer.

“I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it at first,” Korte said. “We quickly realized that this is something that we should fight.”

Korte has worked for the publication since 2024, covering the U.S. military in the Middle East. The Pentagon cited the reason for the firing as “insubordination,” which Slavin and Korte said is related to interviews they gave on “CBS Sunday Morning” in July.

Korte said the following in her CBS interview: “I’m working for Stars and Stripes. Not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker. I’m here to cover the military community.”

Korte joined Slavin and Lederer as a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Pentagon, with lawyers going to court Friday to seek a temporary restraining order and get plaintiffs on administrative leave during litigation. The Pentagon agreed to pause the firings while the case is litigated.

The federal lawsuit, which was filed Thursday, argues plaintiffs were terminated after an article about conditions aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln was published, and that the reason for the firings was for comments made on CBS five weeks before.

Plaintiffs are suing the Department of Defense; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Sean Parnell, a senior adviser to Hegseth; and Andrew Brey, a deputy assistant to Hegseth for public affairs.

Plaintiffs are seeking their jobs back, legal fees and a ruling that the January repeal of the publication’s editorial rights was unlawful.

Stars and Stripes is part of the Department of Defense, making its reporters Pentagon employees — but they maintain editorial independence, and have since its creation. The news outlet publishes stories online and still puts out a print version for service members in remote areas overseas.

Parnell, who acts as the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on X in January that the Pentagon is “modernizing” the Stars and Stripes and wants to get rid of “woke distractions that syphon morale.”

“The fact that they took issue with me reasserting our editorial independence, that makes me a little bit queasy,” Korte said. “When I applied for the job, I was reassured about editorial independence. People aren’t going to read something if they just feel like it’s another press release from the Pentagon.”

The Pentagon declined to comment for this story.

Korte said her time at KU gave her valuable news experience and that she wouldn’t be where she is without the journalism school.

“I don’t know what my GPA was, but it probably wasn’t that great because I was skipping class a lot to go write for the University Daily Kansan,” Korte said. “I was surrounded by really supportive professors and really ambitious peers who encouraged me to do better and do more.”

In her time at KU, Korte wrote more than 200 articles for the University Daily Kansan as a reporter, news editor and editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.

“During her time at KU, Korte was a juggernaut,” KU journalism professor Eric Thomas wrote in a Kansas Reflector column. “Her investigative work for the student newspaper showed fellow students how to do watchdog reporting: articles about sexual assault, budgetary gambles, fraternity hazing and white nationalism on campus.”

Although her work as a military reporter differs from U.S.-based political reporting, Korte said working for Stars and Stripes has embedded her in the military community.

“I go out to the bases in the Middle East and really get to live and work alongside the military community,” Korte said. “As much as we cover the big picture stuff, we’re still a hometown newspaper for these military families. This is very much a paper for the military community about the military community. I think it provides morale to them and also provides perspective for Washington.”

Korte said, according to her lawyers, the firings were unconventional because the Pentagon “waited a long time,” or roughly six weeks, to deliver disciplinary action.

“I don’t know what comes next for me,” Korte said. “But at the end of the day, I still want to keep doing journalism, defense journalism specifically. We just don’t know yet. I don’t know what the future holds.”