Max Lederer to Leave Stars and Stripes Over Differences With Pentagon Leadership/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ morning Edition/ Longtime Stars and Stripes publisher Max D. Lederer Jr. will retire amid fundamental disagreements with Pentagon leadership over the newspaper’s mission. His departure follows the removal of the publication’s ombudsman and a Pentagon push to eliminate what it calls “woke distractions.” Current and former officials warn that the changes threaten the military newspaper’s congressionally protected editorial independence.
Quick Look
- Max D. Lederer Jr. will retire effective Sept. 30.
- Lederer cited fundamental differences with Defense Department leadership.
- He has worked at Stars and Stripes for decades.
- The Pentagon fired the newspaper’s ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, in April.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team wants to reshape the publication’s coverage.
- The Pentagon plans to emphasize weapons, fitness, lethality and other military topics.
- Lederer opposed replacing print products with an exclusively digital platform.
- About half of Stars and Stripes’ budget comes from the Pentagon.
- Its staff members are Defense Department employees.
- An advisory board leader warned that installing a new deputy threatened editorial independence.
- Lederer said he does not know whether he will remain publisher through Sept. 30.
Deep Look
Publisher cites fundamental disagreement with Pentagon
Max D. Lederer Jr., the longtime publisher of Stars and Stripes, has announced his retirement as Pentagon leadership moves to assert greater control over the military newspaper’s direction.
Lederer said his retirement will take effect at the end of September.
In a memo to staff Tuesday, he said it had “become clear that my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization.”
Lederer is only the second person to serve as the newspaper’s full-time civilian publisher.
Departure follows ombudsman’s removal
Lederer’s announcement came less than four months after the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, the newspaper’s ombudsman.
Smith’s congressionally mandated role was intended to protect Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence.
Although the Defense Department provides part of the publication’s funding, Stars and Stripes has a long tradition of operating independently from military and government leaders.
“No one should be surprised that they’re kicking out the one person charged by Congress with protecting Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence,” Smith wrote following her removal.
Coverage included sailors’ mental health concerns
Stars and Stripes has recently reported extensively on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and concerns about sailors’ mental health during the aircraft carrier’s lengthy deployment.
President Donald Trump has downplayed those concerns.
The reporting illustrates the publication’s role in covering military life and command decisions for service members, including issues that may conflict with the administration’s preferred messaging.
Pentagon seeks to reshape newspaper’s mission
The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Lederer’s retirement.
His departure follows a January announcement that the Pentagon intended to overhaul Stars and Stripes and align its coverage more closely with the department’s current priorities.
Sean Parnell, a spokesperson for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said the Pentagon “is returning Stars and Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters.”
He said the department would “refocus its content away from woke distractions.”
“Stars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters,” Parnell wrote. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”
Wider restrictions imposed on Pentagon journalists
The developments at Stars and Stripes come amid broader attempts by Hegseth to control media access and coverage of the Defense Department.
Pentagon officials last year sought to impose new restrictions on journalists working inside the building. Most news organizations responded by returning their access badges and leaving their Pentagon workspaces.
The department later designated its press office as a classified area and required journalists to have escorts while moving around Pentagon property.
News organizations challenged the policy in court. In July, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit allowed the restrictions to remain in effect, overturning a lower court ruling.
Former ombudsman warned of growing media controls
In an April column titled “The Pentagon is trying to silence me,” Smith warned that military leaders were steadily restricting journalists.
“For nearly a year, Pentagon leadership has placed more and more restrictions on the mainstream media,” she wrote. “The New York Times sued and when the Defense/War Department lost in court, instead of following the judge’s ruling Secretary Hegseth and company pivoted, finding another way to restrict journalists.”
Smith also urged readers to defend Stars and Stripes from Pentagon interference.
“This newspaper has a long history of commitment to the military community and to journalistic values,” she wrote. “Please don’t let it be controlled by Pentagon brass.”
Lederer objects to digital-only direction
Lederer was not available for an interview with The Associated Press.
He told Stars and Stripes that he disagreed with aspects of the Pentagon’s modernization plan, particularly the proposed transition from printed newspapers to digital-only products.
Lederer argued that eliminating print could reduce access for service members.
“I don’t feel that there’s a full recognition of the value of multiple platforms versus only a digital platform,” he said.
New deputy raises editorial independence concerns
Stars and Stripes said it could not confirm a report that the Pentagon recently placed a new deputy under Lederer without informing him beforehand.
Rufus Friday, chair of the publication’s advisory board of publishers, raised concerns about that appointment in a letter to congressional leaders.
Friday said the arrival of the new deputy “threatens Stripes’s editorial independence.”
The dispute adds to fears that Pentagon leadership is establishing greater influence within the publication’s management structure.
Newspaper has a distinct First Amendment mission
Approximately half of Stars and Stripes’ budget is supplied by the Pentagon, and its employees are considered Defense Department personnel.
Despite those ties, the publication’s mission statement says it is “editorially independent of interference from outside its own editorial chain-of-command.”
It also describes Stars and Stripes as unique among Defense Department-affiliated news organizations because it is “governed by the principles of the First Amendment.”
The newspaper has continuously covered the U.S. military since World War II, primarily serving American troops stationed overseas.
Lederer said that although his retirement is scheduled for Sept. 30, he does not know whether the Pentagon will allow him to remain publisher until then or appoint an acting replacement earlier.
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