Timothy Penn @tspenn22 - Twitter Profile

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6 days ago

BREAKING: Pete Hegseth forces the editor of military newspaper Stars and Stripes to resign and replaces him with a loyal minion for breaking the story of sailors throwing themselves off the USS Abraham Lincoln! The publisher of Stars and Stripes is walking away after more than 30 years at the storied military newspaper as Pete Hegseth's Pentagon moves to exert more control over a publication generations of American service members have trusted for independent news. Max Lederer, who has served as publisher for nearly two decades, announced his retirement after the Pentagon installed an active-duty Navy public affairs officer as his deputy without even consulting him. Lederer made clear this was no ordinary retirement. “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 wrote to staff. That “direction” has been increasingly obvious since Hegseth took over the Pentagon. His Defense Department has derided Stars and Stripes as “woke,” announced plans to overhaul the publication, and fired its independent ombudsman (who is now suing the Pentagon and alleges she was retaliated against for criticizing its attempts to control the paper's editorial content). Now active-duty Capt. William Urban has been placed directly in the newspaper's senior leadership, which members of the Stars and Stripes advisory board say threatens the separation that has allowed the government-funded newspaper to report independently on the Pentagon for decades. “How does someone with zero experience in a global news organization walk into a senior-level role at Stars and Stripes?” asked advisory board member and newspaper editor Bill Church. “We should all worry about the future of Stripes.” Three Democratic senators are worried enough that they've demanded Hegseth explain Urban's role and whether he will have any influence over editorial operations. And here's why this matters right now: Stars and Stripes has continued doing exactly the kind of journalism an independent military newspaper is supposed to do. It has reported critically on the mental health crisis and risk of self-harm among sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, even as Hegseth has attacked reporting about conditions aboard the carrier as misrepresenting what's happening. There are plenty of traditions that survive long after their usefulness has disappeared, but the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes isn't one of them. Through it, the three million people who serve in and work for the Defense Department have a trusted source of news that isn't controlled by the same people who command them. Hegseth has shown little interest in leading the Pentagon through the institutional restraints, professional expertise and hard-won consensus that traditionally govern an organization of nearly three million people. He wants to impose his will on it, and an independent newspaper capable of telling those people things their boss doesn't want them to hear plainly doesn't fit that model. Some traditions are there for a reason. This is one worth fighting for.

OccupyDemocrats's tweet photo. BREAKING: Pete Hegseth forces the editor of military newspaper Stars and Stripes to resign and replaces him with a loyal minion for breaking the story of sailors throwing themselves off the USS Abraham Lincoln!

The publisher of Stars and Stripes is walking away after more than 30 years at the storied military newspaper as Pete Hegseth's Pentagon moves to exert more control over a publication generations of American service members have trusted for independent news.

Max Lederer, who has served as publisher for nearly two decades, announced his retirement after the Pentagon installed an active-duty Navy public affairs officer as his deputy without even consulting him.

Lederer made clear this was no ordinary retirement. “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 wrote to staff.

That “direction” has been increasingly obvious since Hegseth took over the Pentagon. His Defense Department has derided Stars and Stripes as “woke,” announced plans to overhaul the publication, and fired its independent ombudsman (who is now suing the Pentagon and alleges she was retaliated against for criticizing its attempts to control the paper's editorial content).

Now active-duty Capt. William Urban has been placed directly in the newspaper's senior leadership, which members of the Stars and Stripes advisory board say threatens the separation that has allowed the government-funded newspaper to report independently on the Pentagon for decades.

“How does someone with zero experience in a global news organization walk into a senior-level role at Stars and Stripes?” asked advisory board member and newspaper editor Bill Church. “We should all worry about the future of Stripes.”

Three Democratic senators are worried enough that they've demanded Hegseth explain Urban's role and whether he will have any influence over editorial operations.

And here's why this matters right now: Stars and Stripes has continued doing exactly the kind of journalism an independent military newspaper is supposed to do.
It has reported critically on the mental health crisis and risk of self-harm among sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, even as Hegseth has attacked reporting about conditions aboard the carrier as misrepresenting what's happening.

There are plenty of traditions that survive long after their usefulness has disappeared, but the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes isn't one of them. Through it, the three million people who serve in and work for the Defense Department have a trusted source of news that isn't controlled by the same people who command them.

Hegseth has shown little interest in leading the Pentagon through the institutional restraints, professional expertise and hard-won consensus that traditionally govern an organization of nearly three million people.

He wants to impose his will on it, and an independent newspaper capable of telling those people things their boss doesn't want them to hear plainly doesn't fit that model.

Some traditions are there for a reason. This is one worth fighting for.

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