WSJ defends coverage of Dallas-based money manager

The Wall Street Journal defended its coverage of Highland Capital Management after the money manager accused one of its reporters for writing biased and unfair stories.

The Dallas-based firm, which has $14 billion in assets under management, complained after a Nov. 27 story written by reporter Matt Wirz.

In a letter posted on its website, Highland co-founder and president James Dondero wrote:

Matthieu Wirz’s article about Highland was long on salacious language, but short on context and facts. Mr. Wirz’s record makes his agenda clear. Since June 2016, he has written 15 stories for which he was the sole reporter, four of which are negative stories about Highland. He has not written any negative pieces focused on any other investment managers. Despite our repeated efforts to provide Mr. Wirz with the actual facts, Mr. Wirz refuses to present an accurate picture of Highland. Interestingly he is the only WSJ author to write a negative article about Highland in the past ten years.

A Journal spokesman defended Wirz’s reporting, stating, “The Wall Street Journal holds itself to the highest reporting standards. Following a review of this article, three corrections were made and noted, in accordance with our strict policies. We have full confidence the article is fair and accurate.”

Wirz covers credit markets for The Journal’s Money & Investing team. Previously he was a founder and editor in chief of Debtwire.