Stripes' acting publisher is asked to resign

Stripes' acting publisher is asked to resign
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, November 14, 2007

ARLINGTON, Va. — Midlevel editors at Stars and Stripes have called on the newspaper’s acting publisher to resign, saying he has refused to release information on the extent of the paper’s relationship with America Supports You.

Tom Skeen, assistant managing editor, Pacific; Sam Amrhein, Europe bureau chief; Joe Giordono, Mideast bureau chief; Marni McEntee, assistant Europe bureau chief; Tim Flack, Korea bureau chief; and Chris Carlson, Japan bureau chief signed the e-mail, sent Tuesday.

Asked to respond, Max Lederer issued the following statement:

“I was appointed the acting Publisher on 1 Oct 2007 after 15 years with Stars and Stripes serving the military community. I believe strongly in the value and need for Stars and Stripes and intend to continue to perform my duties and focus on the mission of Stars and Stripes by providing servicemembers timely and quality independent news and information.”

The Defense Department Inspector General’s Office is looking into Stripes’ expenditures for America Supports You, a Defense Department program that gives publicity to nonprofit groups that support U.S. troops.

A source at Stripes explained that the paper served as a conduit for money that went toward America Supports You, but Stripes did not spend any of its own money.

Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50253

Supporting the NeoCon views of empire through the strawman of "support the troops"