GoKawiilA service member reads Stars and Stripes in 2024. A March 9 memo affirmed the independence of the publication while announcing new restrictions. (Reader submitted photo.)
This story has been corrected
The Pentagon has released a modernization plan for Stars and Stripes that affirms the publication’s independence while expanding Defense Department oversight, introducing new restrictions on content and transitioning away from a print publication.
An eight-page memo, dated March 9 and effective immediately, limits the use of wire services, bars comics and other syndicated features and states that content must be consistent with “good order and discipline,” a phrase borrowed from the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The memo is the first formal explanation since Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said in a Jan. 15 social media post that the Defense Department intended to “refocus” the news organization “from woke distractions that syphon morale.”
On Friday, Parnell in a statement provided the first direct comment to the organization since Jan. 15. He said the department is “returning S&S to its original mission: an independent news source for service members stationed overseas that is by the warfighter and for the warfighter.”
Parnell said the effort includes “a transition from print to digital, transition to uniformed staff at locations outside the continental U.S., and other efficiency measures that will eliminate redundancies and ensure smart use of DOW resources.”
Stars and Stripes staff currently includes service members on one- to three-year assignments who are mentored by civilian journalists. The service members are typically trained by the services in public relations.
Parnell did not answer questions about how his office is coordinating with the news organization to implement these changes or if the decisions are based on any formal review or evaluation of Stars and Stripes operations.
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