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The Bulwark ·Behind the news

The Pentagon’s Uniquely Positioned Newspaper—and Why It Should Stay That Way

by Mark Hertling

Published 2026-08-25 18:34:37+00:00

If troops know things are bad, what happens when their own newspaper says everything is fine?

0:00 / 12:54 · Narrator Algieba

Context

For generations, American soldiers stationed overseas have picked up copies of Stars and Stripes to read about hometown sports and military missteps. But recent firings at the paper force an unusual question: why should the Pentagon fund a publication that openly criticizes its own commanders? The answer in this 25 August 2026 essay has little to do with familiar debates about press freedom. An independent military press actually functions as a tactical necessity—a firewall against the rumors and foreign propaganda that take over the moment troops stop believing their own institutions.

Show notes

An argument for preserving the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes, the newspaper funded by the Pentagon but historically free from its control. Tracing the publication's mandate back to the Civil War, the author makes the case that uncensored reporting on military problems builds trust among service members. Without a credible source for bad news, the argument concludes, troops will inevitably turn to unverified rumors and foreign propaganda.

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