"Stars and Stripes Ombudsman Fired Amid Concerns Over Pentagon's Grip on Editorial Independence. In a move sparking widespread criticism, the Pentagon has ousted Jacqueline Smith, the ombudsman of the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes. Smith, a key watchdog tasked with ensuring the outlet's editorial independence and reporting concerns to Congress, alleges that her termination is a direct result of her efforts to address potential threats to the newspaper's autonomy. As the Pentagon's control over the publication has long been a source of controversy, Smith's removal has raised alarms about the potential for censorship and the erosion of press freedom within the military."
The Pentagon recently ousted the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes’ 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...
