Outlet track record
Stars and Stripes
U.S. military community newspaper; federally funded, editorially independent by statute (independence now contested)
Stars and Stripes is a Defense Department-owned newspaper for U.S. service members and their families. Congress has protected its newsroom's editorial independence. Its news coverage has been largely straight, factual reporting on the military, but in 2026 it has been the subject of a Pentagon campaign to change its content and leadership. Its own coverage and opinion pieces have defended its independence, while the Pentagon says it is reforming the paper.
Owned byOwned by the U.S. Department of Defense (Department of War), which operates it as a federal government entity. Congress has protected its editorial independence in law since 1992 (Title 10). It has long had its own civilian newsroom, a publisher, and an ombudsman who reports to Congress.
LeaningU.S. military community newspaper; federally funded, editorially independent by statute (independence now contested)
On the administrationmostly neutral
2.6average bias score across 13 stories
1 = straight reporting · 10 = heavily spun
1 = straight reporting · 10 = heavily spun