Pentagon officials considering firing longtime Stars and Stripes publisher, sources say

Washington — Pentagon officials have discussed firing the longtime publisher of Stars and Stripes before his scheduled retirement, U.S. officials told CBS News, as the Trump administration strategizes an overhaul of the military news outlet partly funded by American taxpayers.

Max Lederer, who has served as the publisher of Stars and Stripes for 19 years, this week announced to colleagues his decision to retire on Sept. 30, citing fundamental differences with the Trump administration. Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin has spoken publicly, including to CBS News, about disagreements with Pentagon leaders. 

It was unclear when a decision on the news outlet’s leadership would be made. Spokespeople for the Defense Department didn’t immediately comment. 

The outlet, which receives about 65% of its funding through the Defense Department, has long prided itself on its editorial independence from the public affairs apparatus at the Pentagon. 

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell has posted on social media about “bringing Stars and Stripes into the 21st century,” writing in January: “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.”

CBS News has reported that an average of 1.4 million people see Stars and Stripes each day — mostly online, although it puts out a print version overseas for service members in remote places where access to the internet can be unreliable.

Two U.S. officials said public records show readership has declined since peaks during World War II, the Cold War and the Vietnam War.

Print delivery slid from about 7 million annual copies in 2019 to 6.2 million in 2024, and unique visitors to stripes.com fell about 30% in that period, from 20 million to 14 million a year, records show.

Pentagon staff said there are stacks of newspapers in the building that seem to go untouched, containing articles that service members can access online from other outlets.

Another complaint has been that the newspaper has been mostly an aggregator of news instead of providing predominantly original news. 

The publication was projected to spend about $400,000 this year on subscription services for content that appears on its pages, records show. The outlet no longer uses wire services such as Reuters or The Associated Press. Parnell said in January that the outlet would “focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”

Newspapers typically use wire service copy to inform readers of news they are not covering with their own staff. 

Asked for comment, Lederer in an email to CBS News on Wednesday said he wasn’t comfortable participating in an interview before he leaves his job. 

In his note to staff on Tuesday, which was obtained by CBS News, Lederer wrote: “It has 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.”

He said that until the end of September, “I will do everything I can to make sure the transition is smooth for each of you.”

Over the years, the newspaper has reported on failures inside the military itself, including deteriorating housing, problems in the barracks and allegations of neglect at military child care centers. It has also published writings critical of military policies and leadership. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II famously defended the newspaper and wanted it to be “free from propaganda” and influence from military brass, according to a December 1988 GAO report to Congress examining allegations of military censorship of Stars and Stripes. 

Recently, Stars and Stripes has provided coverage of the war in the Middle East and what it means for service members. It was one of the first outlets to report on the families of sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier confronting the acting Navy secretary about the nearly nine-month deployment.

The Trump administration has taken steps to limit access to media outlets that cover the military. News organizations, including CBS News, had to leave their workspaces in the Pentagon in 2025 unless they consented to new policies imposed by the administration. 

The ombudsman for Stars and Stripes was fired in April, days after writing an opinion column in the newspaper where she criticized what she described as restrictions placed on wire copy and syndicated material. Jacqueline Smith sued the Pentagon in June alleging that her termination was retaliatory and violated her First Amendment rights.