Media Companies Suspend Mail Amid Anthrax Scares

By LISA GIRION

Oct. 13, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Security guards wearing surgical gloves and facemasks descended on corporate mail rooms Friday as businesses--particularly media and entertainment companies--stepped up the screening of letters and parcels after new anthrax scares at “NBC Nightly News” and the New York Times in New York.

Mail deliveries at companies such as Warner Bros., Paramount Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment were halted. Employees were warned against opening letters and packages, and firms with mail-room X-ray machines pressed them into use as a measure against other possible threats, such as letter bombs.

The latest corporate security scramble disrupted business as usual Friday and came only days after many firms had put on extra guards and curtailed public and vendor access to offices and plants in reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“All security is driven by fear, and right now the fear of the moment is this anthrax scare and the terrorist threat,” said Sergio Robleto, a managing director of Kroll Inc.’s North American corporate security practice and a former Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective. “It’s very hard to keep up with the calls right now.”

The concern followed reports that an NBC news employee had tested positive for anthrax after handling a letter containing a white powder addressed to anchorman Tom Brokaw. Unlike the tabloid photo editor in Florida who died after inhaling anthrax spores, the NBC employee developed a skin lesion after contact with the contagion. She was reported in good health.

Also Friday, a New York Times reporter who has covered Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network received a letter containing a powdery substance, which was under investigation.

Although investigators said they knew nothing to suggest a coordinated attack on news outlets, media and entertainment companies were swift to review and tighten mail operations.

Warner Bros. in Burbank temporarily suspended mail service in and out of the studio, sent its mail-room employees home Friday and recommended they be tested for possible infection. Studio Chairman Barry Meyer said the testing was a precaution and did not come in response to any threat.

In an e-mail to employees, Warner Bros. said the company had instructed its mail carriers, including FedEx and UPS, to hold pickups and deliveries through Monday. “We encourage the use of fax and e-mail to help mitigate any temporary impact to operations,” the e-mail said.

At Paramount Studios in Hollywood, mail delivery on the lot was halted Friday, and unopened mail was sent back to the mail room, spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick said. “They are just taking every precaution.”

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which leases space in a Santa Monica office complex, began screening all mail Sept. 20, after the FBI met with all of the studio officials to inform them that a reliable source at an unnamed foreign intelligence service passed along information that a Hollywood studio would be targeted.

“We’re definitely on a heightened alert,” spokeswoman Lea Porteneuve said. “We’re scrutinizing everything that comes in very carefully.”

Sony Pictures Entertainment suspended the delivery of incoming mail Friday with plans to resume mail delivery Monday morning.

Walt Disney Co. in Burbank, like many companies, declined to detail added security measures. Spokesman Chris Castro said there had been no threats against Disney or information suggesting the company was a target.

At the Los Angeles Times, Publisher John Puerner directed employees to return unopened mail to the mail room for screening and to report anything that appeared to be a foreign substance to security.

At the San Francisco Chronicle, security representatives and managers met with mail-room personnel, and employees were briefed on the steps to take if they receive a piece of suspicious mail, said Joe Brown, director of public relations.

Viacom Inc., owner of the CBS network, and Newsweek magazine also stopped mail deliveries.

Kroll’s Robleto canceled a weekend trip to help respond to a surge in requests from corporations that handle large volumes of mail for top-to-bottom reviews of their mail operations.

They want to know “how do the people handling the mail do it safely,” he said. “There is concern for the mail carriers themselves. Some companies have opted to stop delivering the mail until they have set up systems to protect them that they can feel confident about.”

He said some companies are curtailing aspects of their business that rely heavily on incoming mail until extra screening measures were in place.

Corporate security consultants are advising clients to scrutinize mail carefully for signs of tampering or suspicious contents, including strange odors, poor handwriting, an unusual return address or no return address. Mail without a specific department or employee named in the address also should raise suspicions, they said.

Mail wrapped in an oil-proof covering, such as brown paper with a wax coating, and mail that is stamped instead of metered also are clues to watch for, said Elaine Carey, a senior vice president with Control Risks Group, a global business risk consulting firm.

“It’s the same things you would be looking for with a bomb except it’s not ticking,” she said.

Times staff writers Corie Brown, Meg James and Ronald D. White contributed to this report.

Nation on edge: After reports of an NBC worker contracting anthrax in New York, scares ripple across the nation. A1