By Frank Macek Over the weekend, I had a chance to read an excellent article by Hillary Atkin in NewsPro Magazine that takes a look at the current state of television news and how we got to this point. I thought I'd share some of my comments on the general points made by Ms. Atkin. The bottom line is cutbacks by television stations are having an enormous impact on the overall quality of television news, including here in Cleveland. All our stations locally have been hurt financially in 2009. However, we doubt that few, if any, local station managers would admit their product isn't what it used to be because of staff reductions. They would probably argue its been multi-faceted. One of the biggest reasons for cutbacks is diminishing profit. Since the great economic downturn that started in late 2007 and 2008, stations have been under extreme pressure financially. Advertisers aren't spending as much money and local television stations are ...