Former Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer says the Pentagon outright directed him to fire journalists for ‘insubordination’—for daring to use their freedom of speech to report truth.
“I was just told, ‘do what you’re instructed and serve these notices,'” Lederer told an audience during a CSPAN interview, hosted by Military Veterans in Journalism.
Stars and Stripes, a US military news publication funded in part by the government, is intended to have editorial independence, but the Washington Post reported in January that new hire applicants were now being asked what they will do in order to forward Donald Trump’s “policy priorities,” under the second Trump administration.
“How would you advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role?” the question reads. “Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”
This marked the latest example of a persistent trend over the last year, with the Trump administration attempting to exert control — in this case, ideological control — over agencies, departments and programs once deemed independent.
Lederer said the Trump administration’s demand to fire reporters for being reporters was the final straw.
“There were a couple of things wrong when I received the direction to terminate them. First: I don’t believe you can direct a supervisor in what they should do and tell them what they should do,” Lederer told CPAN hosts. “You can share with them what you believe and … give that supervisor an opportunity to consider and have that conversation. So, my initial reaction was to push back as say ‘I don’t understand the foundation of your conclusion that they were insubordinate and that they were not using their First Amendment rights to speak their personal opinion.’”
“I do not believe that when we put on a uniform or work for the government, we give up all our First Amendment rights,” Lederer continued. “We do have rights to speak up and say what we believe is right or wrong or good or bad about how we serve. But their disciplinary action was saying basically ‘you have no First Amendment Rights.’ It’s not consistent to me to fire somebody who’s exercising their First Amendment right when their job is to speak for other people who are also speaking their First Amendment rights. It didn’t make any sense to me.”
Lederer said when he approached Pentagon officials and demanded answers, he got none.
“At that point I said, ‘I’m done.’ I had been trying for months to work within the system to make things better and to keep Stripes on the right path, but I knew I would not longer be able to do that. So, it was my decision to refuse to sign those letters and to retire.”
Disclosure: AlterNet Publisher Roxanne Cooper worked at Stars and Stripes with Mr. Lederer from 2000-2003.