Former Stars and Stripes publisher named news executive of the year

Max D. Lederer Jr., the former publisher of Stars and Stripes who was fired by the Pentagon, was named Tuesday as news executive of the year by the magazine Editor & Publisher.

E&P, which covers the news media industry, said it awarded Lederer its highest annual honor in recognition of his long career at Stars and Stripes and his defense of independent journalism.

“We ask our journalists to be courageous,” said Mike Blinder, the publisher of E&P, during a luncheon announcing the award. “Our honoree reminds us that courage has to reach the publisher’s office, too.”

The Pentagon dismissed Lederer in August, citing his refusal to remove the newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte for appearing in a CBS segment about the Pentagon’s efforts to encroach on the paper’s traditional editorial independence.

Lederer had announced his retirement before he was fired, saying he disagreed with Pentagon leadership over its plans for the paper. He is now suing the Pentagon for wrongful termination alongside Slavin and Korte, alleging the dismissals were retaliation for critical coverage.

The Pentagon has denied that the firings were related to Stars and Stripes’ reporting, attributing them instead to insubordination.

In an interview Tuesday, Lederer said the E&P award was a testament to the stand he, Slavin and Korte took in support of credible, independent and objective news.

“Part of what’s being recognized is our willingness to stand up for what we believe in and what journalism, in my mind, is all about,” he said.

More broadly, Lederer said the award reflected the work of everyone at Stars and Stripes, an organization that reaches more than 1.4 million readers through its print edition, website and mobile app and produces hundreds of publications in addition to a daily newspaper.

“I think it’s a recognition of the professionalism and the quality work the Stripes team does as a whole,” he said. “Because you don’t get recognized if you don’t have a team that is performing at a high, outstanding, exemplary manner.”

E&P said it received numerous nominations for Lederer, including from Slavin, who said Lederer had withstood “tremendous” pressure from the Pentagon this year to defend the right to free and independent news for service members.

Stars and Stripes is owned and partly funded by the Pentagon, but federal regulations and department policy have for decades emphasized its editorial integrity.

In March, the Pentagon issued new guidance for the paper stating that its content “must be consistent with good order and discipline,” a phrase used in military justice. In April, the paper’s ombudsman, a position established by Congress to defend the paper’s independence, was fired.

Gretchen A. Peck, the editor in chief of E&P, said Lederer’s career has been defined by decades of service to journalism, the military community and the country.

Before he joined Stars and Stripes in 1992, Lederer served in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, deployed to the Middle East and received the Bronze Star. He became publisher of the organization in 2007, overseeing worldwide business and editorial operations.

“Through it all, Lederer never lost sight of the people at the heart of that mission: service members and their families around the world who rely on Stars and Stripes for truly independent, credible journalism,” Peck said.