When Ken Selvaggi took over as GM at WAVE-TV in March, some of us wondered if the station would continue its Hot Button editorials that Steve Langford had started.
And for a long while, it looked like WAVE had abandoned the on-air editorial, leaving WDRB’s Bill Lamb as the lone TV opinionator. But it turns out Selvaggi, who came from a Raycom station in Montgomery when Langford retired last spring, was just getting acclimated.
On Aug. 23, Selvaggi recorded his first local editorial, about putting children first. He’s committed to doing them twice a week, he says, but will do it in his own style. Gone is the Hot Button brand, replaced by a more sedate “Editorial.” And don’t expect Selvaggi to ever be as controversial as Langford, who often took strong and occasionally unpopular stands on local issues.
“You have to be true to your personality,” Selvaggi told me. “If you do your job, you’re going to upset some folks. I hope to forward some dialogue and effect positive change.”
He said the six-month wait before going on the air gave him time to get acclimated and organize an editorial board, consisting of community members and station personnel. Thus far, he’s stuck with some pretty safe topics, such as a 9/11 remembrance, something on the MLK memorial and promoting downtown retail. Asked if he’d be weighing in on the Judy Green controversy on the Metro Council, he said he’d do it only if he could make a larger point, that he wouldn’t focus on an individual case.
And another thing that won’t change — Selvaggi says he welcomes anyone with something to say to come to the station and record an editorial.
