CHICAGO: Microsoft finished first in Cision's 2008 Corporate Media Reputation Index. The software company has won the top spot in the annual rankings for five straight years.

Microsoft was able to hold off other corporations by releasing a number of major product announcements and favorable financial disclosures, according to Cision, which releases quarterly rankings of the 100 largest US companies by positive media coverage. The company has finished first for seven of the last eight years.

Rival Apple finished number two, taking ...