Some sorely missed features

Why on earth would you remove the one truly useful feature in the Thursday Calendar Weekend section -- the rundown of movie times throughout the city? What a stupid idea to refer readers to your website. Is it convenient to access your website if one is reading Weekend at a coffee shop, or at the gym, or many other places? Why make things less user-friendly for your readers?

Laurie Trainor

Los Angeles

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What hath the New Year brought?

* No late-night TV listings in TV Times.

* No movie timetables in Thursday Calendar.

* What appear to be very abbreviated listings for small theaters (stage).

And of course no clear, straightforward statement as to the whys and wherefores of these changes.

Admittedly, the reasons are probably quite obvious. Nevertheless, when the paper of record reduces its flow of information, it would be ethical as well as politic to present a clear up-front explanation.

What other reductions, unimaginable today, might be around the corner? It is easy to forget that a lot of readers still try to get their listing information from The Times, although Internet use is obviously growing. At what point will so many readers start getting their listings primarily from the Internet that advertisers will join them in agreeing that TV Times and Calendar are no longer relevant advertising vehicles?

Tony Barnard

San Pedro