Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper that dates back to the Civil War, could be printing its last issue soon thanks to the steep budget cuts facing the Defense Department. With sequestration forcing the Pentagon to slash next year’s budget, Stars and Stripes, the Pentagon Channel, and a large portion of the Armed Forces Network are being eyed as potential savings, according to the newspaper itself.
Stars and Stripes is run by Defense Media Activity, a Pentagon agency, but the paper’s four printed editions and website are editorially independent, an arrangement that sometimes leads to friction with Pentagon brass, such as in 2009 when it reported on Army officials’ use of a media strategy firm to rate journalists covering the war in Afghanistan.
The paper’s budget is also barely a drop of the $52 billion the Pentagon needs to cut in order to satisfy the congressionally mandated budget cuts. Its operating costs for 2014 are projected to be $7.4 million, the paper’s chief financial officer said. That figure came after the paper cut 30 percent of its mostly civilian staff in October.
Axing the paper altogether is a unpopular idea with the members of Congress, especially those who oversee the Pentagon’s budget. “I certainly acknowledge [the Pentagon has] some really difficult choices ahead, and I’d want to look at it, but I think an independent editorial voice like Stars and Stripes provides is pretty darn important for transparency and accountability and oversight in the military,” Senator Claire McCaskill told Stars and Stripes.
Besides its largely civilian staff, Stars and Stripes also has a civilian ombudsman, Ernie Gates, who reports to Congress. Gates told Stars and Stripes that while a budget review isn’t shocking it is potentially unsettling:
“In the current fiscal climate, especially facing the continuing additional cuts from sequestration, a top-to-bottom review of DOD spending is to be expected,” said Gates. “… But it’s also an environment in which a few well-placed people might opportunistically work out their personal preferences. In Stripes’ case, that could mean someone who doesn’t like its independent reporting using the rationale of fiscal pressure to mask an entirely different intention — to eliminate an irritant.”
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
Pentagon Considers Cutting Funding for Stars and Stripes
Sequestration could mean the end of the Pentagon’s in-house newspaper.
Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper that dates back to the Civil War, could be printing its last issue soon thanks to the steep budget cuts facing the Defense Department. With sequestration forcing the Pentagon to slash next year’s budget, Stars and Stripes, the Pentagon Channel, and a large portion of the Armed Forces Network are being eyed as potential savings, according to the newspaper itself.
Stars and Stripes is run by Defense Media Activity, a Pentagon agency, but the paper’s four printed editions and website are editorially independent, an arrangement that sometimes leads to friction with Pentagon brass, such as in 2009 when it reported on Army officials’ use of a media strategy firm to rate journalists covering the war in Afghanistan.
The paper’s budget is also barely a drop of the $52 billion the Pentagon needs to cut in order to satisfy the congressionally mandated budget cuts. Its operating costs for 2014 are projected to be $7.4 million, the paper’s chief financial officer said. That figure came after the paper cut 30 percent of its mostly civilian staff in October.
Axing the paper altogether is a unpopular idea with the members of Congress, especially those who oversee the Pentagon’s budget. “I certainly acknowledge [the Pentagon has] some really difficult choices ahead, and I’d want to look at it, but I think an independent editorial voice like Stars and Stripes provides is pretty darn important for transparency and accountability and oversight in the military,” Senator Claire McCaskill told Stars and Stripes.
Besides its largely civilian staff, Stars and Stripes also has a civilian ombudsman, Ernie Gates, who reports to Congress. Gates told Stars and Stripes that while a budget review isn’t shocking it is potentially unsettling:
“In the current fiscal climate, especially facing the continuing additional cuts from sequestration, a top-to-bottom review of DOD spending is to be expected,” said Gates. “… But it’s also an environment in which a few well-placed people might opportunistically work out their personal preferences. In Stripes’ case, that could mean someone who doesn’t like its independent reporting using the rationale of fiscal pressure to mask an entirely different intention — to eliminate an irritant.”
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Lauren Boebert and Kid Rock Could Be the Perfect MAGA Power Couple
What’s Going On With These Allegedly Stranded Astronauts?
Spoons Are Becoming a Symbol of Feds’ Resistance to Trump and Musk
In the Event of a US Invasion, Canadians Really Like Their Chances
Trump’s Attempts to Shrink the Federal Workforce Could Hit the DC Area’s Economy Hard
Washingtonian Magazine
February Issue: 100 Very Best Restaurants
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
DC Culture Roundup: Book, Podcast, Album, and TV Recommendations
The National Building Museum Wants to Show You Its Weird Stuff
These DC Food Activists Were Behind the Ranked-Choice-Voting Initiative
A Biography of Perle Mesta Sheds Light on a Famed DC Figure
More from News & Politics
For Local Breweries, Trump’s Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Are an Unwelcome Reminder of His First Term
This Film Festival Focuses on How Language Affects Storytelling
PHOTOS AND VIDEO: Protesters Drag Trump’s Kennedy Center Takeover
Trump Gives Feds Layoffs for Valentine’s Day, Protest at Kennedy Center, and We’ve Got Some Brunch Ideas
How a DC Immigrant Resource Center Is Tackling the Second Trump Administration
“Wonder Woman” Lynda Carter on Transitioning From Hollywood to Washington
Enrique Tarrio Weighs Run for Matt Gaetz’s Old Congressional Seat
5 Things Know About Richard Grenell, the Interim President of Trump’s Kennedy Center