News In Brief

CALL IT OPPOSITION RESEARCH

Earlier this week, the home of Milwaukee's longtime reputed crime boss, a man who died in 1993, was opened to the public for an estate sale. Reports say bargain-hunters and the just plain curious began lining up late the night before for the opportunity to pick through articles of clothing, furnishings, knickknacks, and books - at least one of which was on the subject of criminology.

YOU CAN NEVER FIND A TAXI

What's one of the ways Russia regularly makes news? By being strapped for cash, right? Now comes some insight on one possible explanation for the problem: a new survey that found the number of chauffeur-driven limos for government officials rose last year to 605,290. What's more, about 40,000 of them are imported BMWs, Mercedes, and Audis.

Flattering press coverage is tough to come by, firms find

When large companies turn up in the news, a research study suggests coverage is most often neutral, as opposed to highly positive or negative. But there are exceptions that can affect a company's public perception as well as its bottom line. CARMA imMEDIAte, a Washington-based venture, analyzes coverage in top publications for 700 of the world's largest companies and rates each mention on a scale of 0 to 100, based on discussions of product lines and management. CARMA imMEDIAte's company rankings for 2000 and the score for each, from a database of 30,000 articles:

Most favorable coverage

Nokia 70

Nissan 67

Alcoa 64

General Electric 60

(tie) PepsiCo 60

(tie) J.P. Morgan Chase 60

(tie) Reuters 60

Least favorable coverage

Network Associates 43

AT&T 42

DaimlerChrysler 42

Bridgestone/Firestone 39

Xerox 38

Sotheby's 35

- Business Wire

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor