Pentagon officials considering firing Stars and Stripes publisher, sources say
Summary
Pentagon officials have talked about firing Max Lederer, the long-serving publisher of Stars and Stripes, before his planned retirement in September. The military news outlet is undergoing changes under the Trump administration, which wants to modernize it and focus more on military topics while cutting what it calls distractions.Key Facts
- Max Lederer has been the publisher of Stars and Stripes for 19 years and plans to retire on September 30.
- Pentagon officials have discussed removing Lederer before his retirement due to differences with the Trump administration.
- Stars and Stripes receives about 65% of its funding from the Defense Department.
- The Trump administration aims to modernize Stars and Stripes, focusing on military subjects like weapons, fitness, and combat readiness.
- The paper has seen declining readership: print copies dropped from 7 million in 2019 to 6.2 million in 2024, and website visitors fell by 30% in the same period.
- Some Pentagon staff feel the newspaper repeats news instead of creating original stories and spends around $400,000 on news subscriptions.
- Historically, Stars and Stripes has reported on problems inside the military and maintained editorial independence.
- General Eisenhower once defended the newspaper’s freedom from military censorship during World War II.
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