All Good Things… The End of GFN’s City of Light

By Arlo Matisz.

All good things must come to an end, but this is not an end to all good things. From April 1, 2009, until March 19, 2021, GFN’s City of Light was on the air in Gwangju and Yeosu. This program launched with the opening of GFN, the Gwangju Foreign Language Network. With a mandate to provide entertainment and education to the community, programs such as City of Light were designed to meet the needs of both the Korean and foreign local communities.

A significant portion of City of Light was news coverage. For two hours each weeknight, the show covered national, international, and local news. Stories of interest or relevance to the community were often discussed in greater depth with various guests. Sports, movies, art, and music were all topics of discussion. At any one time, the show had over a dozen different guests coming in each week to cover their areas of interest and expertise. Our thanks go out to all of them for helping build and maintain this show for so many years.

Special thanks must go out to Daniel Choy, a longtime news anchor for Arirang TV, and also City of Light’s longest-serving guest. For a decade, Daniel was available every day for a call-in from Seoul in which he would discuss current news and events with the host. His unique blend of professional expertise and humor was something to look forward to each show. In addition to regular guests, there were occasions for special interviews with people visiting the city, including several ambassadors and even a former head of state. It is a testament to GFN’s reputation that the station is able to attract such prominent figures.

Many in Gwangju still remember that Michael Simning was the original host and one of the creators of City of Light. While much has been said about him in past issues of the Gwangju News, let me just say that enough can never be said of this man and the impact he had in the foreign community here, which still resonates out despite his passing seven years ago. From 2010 to 2014, there were several hosts of City of Light, as Michael was receiving cancer treatment and could not continue hosting through all of that period. I was given the honor of hosting the program in early 2014. Initially a guest covering science and technology issues, I was asked to take over host duties until Michael Simning was well enough to return to the role. He passed away a short time later. Despite serving as host for seven years, I have never stopped thinking of the show as Michael’s, a dear friend to so many in the community.

On a personal note, I want to say it has been a great honor to host City of Light for the last seven years. Over this time, I have had the chance to work with so many great producers, writers, engineers, administrators, and guests. Many have become dear friends. I will never forget my surprise at being offered a chance, though temporary, to host the show, and I will always be grateful for that faith GFN showed. I must give my sincere thanks to Kim Miyoung, my first producer and the person who hired me, as well as Kim Mikyoung, my producer for over five years following.

All good things come to an end, but sometimes that is a chance for change and renewal. GFN conducted extensive surveys of listeners to determine what kind of programming they wanted and when they wanted it. For dinnertime and afterwards, our listeners asked for something lighter and more accessible to the whole family, Korean or foreign. In response, GFN is proud to offer its listeners Way Back with U, cohosted by Woong Tae Ryu (유웅태) and Aline Verduyn, and airing live in City of Light’s time slot of 6–8 p.m. on weeknights. Way Back with U is a bilingual program in which the hosts discuss national, global, local, and recent issues, all in English and Korean. The program can also be viewed as a live video stream on GFN’s YouTube channel.

GFN still has a place for me as the host of a new program. Face2face (stylized as “face2face”) will air on Sundays at 7–8 p.m. Producing the show will be GFN’s chief producer Kim Miyoung, who produced City of Light for over half a decade, the first half of its existence. Face2face is an intimate and intense interview program. Rather than the ten-minute interview format that was standard for City of Light, this new program offers substantive one-hour interviews with guests involved with current events and the local community. The title, which is intended to provoke discussion, has multiple layers. One is as a paradox: As the program is on the radio, the faces of the host and guest are not visible to the audience but are visible to each other during the interview. The other is that during the pandemic, we have become accustomed to so many interactions not being possible face to face; teaching students, meeting coworkers, and attending events have all moved to virtual formats. I think being face to face is something we naturally crave, and in consideration of the many things we have been missing during this difficult time, I hope to satisfy some of our desire for concern, empathy, and intimacy with this new program. It is GFN’s honor and responsibility to give listeners something that is needed.

The Author

Arlo Matisz is an economics professor and the former host of GFN’s City of Light. He tries to get by with a little help from his friends.