Defense Department to overhaul military newspaper Stars and Stripes [View all]

[douglas9]

The Department of Defense on Thursday announced it would overhaul the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, including no longer circulating reporting from wire services like The Associated Press.

In a statement posted on social media, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the department is bringing the newspaper “into the 21st century.”

“The Department of War is returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters,” Parnell said. “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 paper, which traces its roots back to the Civil War, receives some funding from the Pentagon and its staff is Defense Department employees. While part of the Pentagon’s Defense Media Activity, it has long had editorial independence from the Department of Defense leadership and is “congressionally mandated to be governed by First Amendment principles,” according to the paper.

The “modernized” publication will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and “ALL THINGS MILITARY,” according to Parnell.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/15/defense-department-stars-and-stripes-00731492