{"id":2539606,"date":"2026-01-16T17:21:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-vows-to-save-iconic-stars-and-stripes-military-newspaper-from-itself-will-bring-back-from-woke-distractions-6\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T17:23:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:23:00","slug":"pentagon-vows-to-save-iconic-stars-and-stripes-military-newspaper-from-itself-will-bring-back-from-woke-distractions-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-vows-to-save-iconic-stars-and-stripes-military-newspaper-from-itself-will-bring-back-from-woke-distractions-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Vows to Save Iconic &#8216;Stars and Stripes&#8217; Military Newspaper from Itself, Will Bring Back from &#8216;Woke Distractions&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpentagon-vows-to-save-iconic-stars-and-stripes-military-newspaper-from-itself-will-bring-back-from-woke-distractions-6%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2539606&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Pentagon official Sean Parnell announced on X that Stars and Stripes will be overhauled and refocused &#8220;for our warfighters,&#8221; moving away from what he called &#8220;woke distractions&#8221; and toward coverage of warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality and survivability. The post said the outlet would be modernized and stripped of repurposed D.C. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-york-times-sued-for-250-million-as-disturbing-hollywood-feud-escalates-report\/\" title=\"New York Times Sued for 0 Million as Disturbing Hollywood Feud Escalates: Report\">gossip columns<\/a> and Associated Press reprints. The move drew immediate pushback: Stars and Stripes&#8217; ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, urged preservation of the paper&#8217;s editorial independence, and journalist Kevin Baron said Pentagon interference would be illegal because the publication is protected by law. Stars and Stripes, with roots back to the Civil War and a primary audience of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-pentagon-would-rather-fund-troops-abortions-than-their-overseas-living-expenses\/\" title=\"... prioritizes troops&#039; abortion funding over overseas living costs.\">overseas service members<\/a>, receives roughly half its budget from the defense Department and its staff are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-vows-to-save-iconic-stars-and-stripes-military-newspaper-from-itself-will-bring-back-from-woke-distractions-2\/\" title=\"... Vows to Save Iconic &#039;... and ...&#039; Military Newspaper from Itself, Will Bring Back from &#039;...&#039;\">considered department employees<\/a>, but Congress created a firewall in the 1990s to limit Pentagon control over editorial content. The proclamation has sparked a debate over the balance between tailoring content for service members and preserving the paper&#8217;s legally protected editorial autonomy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The storied military publication Stars and Stripes will be making war on &ldquo;woke,&rdquo; according to the Pentagon.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Department of War is returning Stars &amp; Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters,&rdquo; Pentagon representative Sean Parnell <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SeanParnellASW\/status\/2011802849903009991?%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2011802849903009991%7Ctwgr%5Ea1de5531f8dea0f097e9deff3dd222ae5274751c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D5692444action%3Dedit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are bringing Stars &amp; Stripes into the 21st century. 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,&rdquo; the post added.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Stars &amp; Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters. It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The post said content will be overhauled.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">STATEMENT:<\/p>\n<p>The Department of War is returning Stars &amp; Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters.<\/p>\n<p>We are bringing Stars &amp; Stripes into the 21st century. We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale,&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SeanParnellASW\/status\/2011802849903009991?\">January 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints,&rdquo; the post said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Stars &amp; Stripes has a proud legacy of reporting news that&rsquo;s important to our service members. The Department of War is committed to ensuring the outlet continues to reflect that proud legacy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Jacqueline Smith, the outlet&rsquo;s ombudsman, meanwhile insisted there is nothing &ldquo;woke&rdquo; about Stars and Stripes.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s very important that Stars and Stripes maintains its editorial independence, which is the basis of its credibility,&rdquo; Smith said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/defense-department-says-military-newspaper-stars-and-stripes-must-eliminate-woke-distractions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Journalist Kevin Baron also fired back in response to a Stars and Stripes post that said the Pentagon would assume control of editorial content.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">So this is illegal. Stars &amp; Stripes is protected from Pentagon interference by law. I know. I was a Stripes reporter for three years. I&rsquo;m available for comment. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cwaAoTKAqx\">https:\/\/t.co\/cwaAoTKAqx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DefenseBaron\/status\/2011861621920973126?\">January 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So this is illegal. Stars &amp; Stripes is protected from Pentagon interference by law. I know. I was a Stripes reporter for three years,&rdquo; he <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DefenseBaron\/status\/2011861621920973126\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Stars and Stripes, which has existed in some form since the Civil War era, has published since World War II with its chief audience being <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >service members posted overseas<\/a>, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/pentagon-stars-and-stripes-less-woke\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>About half of its budget comes from the Department of War, and staffers are considered War Department employees.<\/p>\n<p>The mission statement of Stars and Stripes says it is &ldquo;editorially independent of interference from outside its own editorial chain-of-command&rdquo; and that it is &ldquo;governed by the principles of the First Amendment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Congress sought to create a firewall between military leaders and the publications in the 1990s to limit Pentagon involvement in content decisions.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pentagon vows to refocus Stars &amp; Stripes away from woke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2539607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-16T155248.528.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[35301,71183,3761,71181,5558],"class_list":["post-2539606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-culture-wars","tag-military-media","tag-pentagon","tag-stars-and-stripes","tag-woke"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-16T155248.528.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2539606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2539606"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2539606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2539610,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2539606\/revisions\/2539610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2539607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2539606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2539606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2539606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}