Wynn Coverage: Know the Source of the Fighting

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and former partner Kazuo Okada are embroiled in a lovers' quarrel from hell, with accusations and counter accusations run amok. However, with apologies to plenty of media outlets, like Fox Business, the accusations are not the only part of the story.

Here's the key, as captured correctly, right from the outset by The Financial Times: "because of a disagreement over Mr. Okada's plans to build a gambling resort in the Philippines, thereby becoming a regional competitor, accusations of misconduct are flying back and forth."

In other words, Fox (and friends) fails to give the underlying reason for the quarrel. From its headline ("Okada to Take Legal Action Against Wynn Resorts") down through the bottom of the article, Fox focuses exclusively on the sordid details of the fight. It's an easy temptation: the media love a good, hair-pulling, eye-poking fight.

It is, though, the source of any fight that is most telling. That's what lets us know if the fight will last (since it's based on a competitive struggle for turf by former friends, the answer is: yes) and whether it might get uglier (see: previous factor; answer also yes.) Without any sense of the source of the fight, you have no chance of gauging its course.

At the time of publication, Fuchs had no positions in any of the stocks mentioned in this column.

Marek Fuchs was a stockbroker for Shearson Lehman Brothers and a money manager before becoming a journalist who wrote The New York Times' "County Lines" column for six years. He also did back-up beat coverage of The New York Knicks for the paper's Sports section for two seasons and covered other professional and collegiate sports. He has contributed frequently to many of the Times' other sections, including National, Metro, Escapes, Style, Real Estate, Arts & Leisure, Travel, Money & Business, Circuits and the Op-Ed Page.

For his "Business Press Maven" column on how business and finance are covered by the media, Fuchs was named best business journalist critic in the nation by the Talking Biz website at The University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Fuchs is a frequent speaker on the business media, in venues ranging from National Public Radio to the annual conference of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

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