Stars and Stripes Publisher Resigns Over Pentagon Dispute — SkimNews
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- Max D Lederer Jr resigned as Stars and Stripes publisher Tuesday, writing that his "philosophy of leadership" and view of the paper's mission "differ in fundamental ways" from Defense Department leadership's direction.
- Pete Hegseth had accused Stars and Stripes of "woke distractions" and slammed its reporting on poor conditions and declining morale aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, deployed in the Iran war.
- The Pentagon also fired Jacqueline Smith, the paper's congressionally-mandated ombudsman whose role was protecting editorial independence from political interference.
- Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell framed the January announcement of greater government alignment as "returning Stars and Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters".
- Stars and Stripes, founded in 1861, has historically maintained editorial independence despite significant government funding — and during Trump's first term, Trump pledged not to cut its budget after the Pentagon sought to eliminate it.
- The broader Pentagon press crackdown includes the June designation of its press office as classified space, barring reporters, and a judge pausing an escort policy news agencies argued violated First Amendment freedoms.
Why it matters: The Pentagon is pressing a war-era outlet protected by congressional mandate into government alignment while also removing the official whose specific role was blocking exactly this interference — replacing the watchdog function with leadership-loyalty reporting for troops whose deployment conditions have already drawn critical coverage.
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