The senators said in the letter, “The stars and the stripes are an essential part of the freedom of the press of our nations who are accused of defending that freedom.”
And sen. Lindsay Graham, RSC, also opposed the move in a separate letter to Asper in late August, calling Stripes a “valuable” home newspaper for members of the armed forces, their families and civilians. Employees around the world, “he added. That “as a PA who has served abroad, I know Stars and Stripes brings its readers.”
In the memo, the department says Asper has decided to stop publishing the paper as a result of its department-wide budget review. The memo, signed by Army Colonel Paul L. Hurst Verstick, the Pentagon’s acting director of defense media activity, said the paper plans to close on Sept. 14, and the final newspaper will be published Sept. 30.
Stripes Ombudsman, Ernie Gates, told the Associated Press on Friday that closing the paper was a fatal intervention and a pay-per-view. The unique first amendment that has served the military reliably will be the organization’s permanent censorship. “
The first newspaper, Stars and Stripes, was created very soon in 1861 during the Civil War, but the paper began publishing continuously during World War I. When the war ended, the publication ended, only to be resumed in 1942 during World War II, providing war time news written by soldiers specially for soldiers in war.
The paper, which receives funding from the Department of Defense, is editorially independent of the Pentagon, and is printed and distributed digitally to armies around the world.
In its budget request earlier this year, the Pentagon proposed a cut in paper funding, which provoked angry reactions from members of Congress.
The Pentagon’s House-pass version of the budget includes funding for the paper’s release, but the Senate has not yet finalized a defense funding bill.
