Pentagon public affairs official named acting publisher of Stars and Stripes

The Pentagon has named Christian Devine, an executive director and principal adviser in the Pentagon’s public affairs office, as acting publisher. Christian Devine, an executive director and principal adviser in the Pentagon’s public affairs office, has been named acting publisher of Stars and Stripes. (Department of Defense) The Pentagon has named Christian Devine, an executive director and principal adviser in the Pentagon’s public affairs office, as acting publisher of Stars and Stripes. Devine will stay in the role until a permanent replacement for the publication’s former longtime publisher, Max D. Lederer Jr., is hired, according to Navy Capt. Bill Urban, military deputy to the publisher. Lederer was fired in August after refusing to dismiss the newspaper’s editor in chief and Middle East reporter over their appearance in a CBS segment about Pentagon efforts to curtail the paper’s editorial independence.

Devine will split his time between Stars and Stripes and the Pentagon, where he oversees public affairs policy, proponency and programs. Devine has worked in military public affairs for years, primarily for the Marine Corps, where he previously served. He said in a statement Tuesday that he has “a lot to learn” about working as publisher but is “honored to help and contribute to the Stripes mission.” “It’s a dynamic media organization with a prestigious history and purpose, and I hope