On Friday, a senior U.S. official delivered a blunt assessment of the Pentagon’s decision to terminate longtime Stars and Stripes publisher Max D. Lederer Jr., telling RedState exclusively: “Max was fired for insubordination, but he was also fired because he oversaw the massive decline of Stars and Stripes throughout his time as the publisher. He was lazy, terrible at his job, and lacked proper vision.”
The remarks stand in contrast to the predictable media outrage over the separation notices issued Friday to Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, and Middle East reporter Lara Korte. All three received notices citing insubordination after publicly resisting the Department of War’s modernization push under Secretary Pete Hegseth. Lederer had announced a Sept. 30 retirement earlier this week, citing “fundamental” differences with DoD leadership. The firings simply accelerated the timeline of change.
Public records confirm a decline under Lederer’s nearly two-decade tenure as publisher as print delivery fell from roughly 7 million annual copies in 2019 to 6.2 million in 2024. Unique visitors to stripes.com dropped about 30 percent over the same period, from 20 million to 14 million. Stacks of unread papers piled up even inside the Pentagon itself. It appears that the outlet, which still reaches 1.4 million readers every day including large numbers of service members, simply could not continue to stagnate.
Navy Capt. Bill Urban, the newly installed Military Deputy to the Publisher, laid out the path forward in an open letter to stakeholders Friday. Urban stressed the need to modernize operations, expand digital and social reach, and deliver greater impact for the force while upholding editorial independence and professional standards.
“We can do better—that we must do better for our most important constituency, the men and women who make up the U.S. Armed Forces,” he wrote. The new vision prioritizes warfighting relevance over the “woke distractions” often tolerated or even promoted by previous leadership.
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Slavin and Korte said their separation notices cited insubordination stemming from a July CBS interview in which they described any content realignment as potential “censorship” and a “red line.” That position disregarded the statutory and departmental expectation that Stars and Stripes (which receives roughly half its $29 million budget from taxpayers) must first serve the troops. Independence does not grant immunity from performance standards or from the strategic direction set by elected civilian leadership.
The same official later told RedState: “I can’t believe he was allowed to serve in that role for as long as he did. Those mourning him never wanted to see Stars and Stripes become a real competitor.”
After years of declining relevance, the Department of War is insisting that the soldiers’ newspaper actually compete in the modern information environment. Lederer’s long run ended because in the new Pentagon, results matter more than tenure. Service members certainly deserve a sharper, more useful product; these firings clear the way for it.
This is a developing story. RedState will provide updates as more information becomes available.
Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.
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