Irene McGee

Irene McGee is a radio DJ and host of "No One's Listening", a radio podcast program about the mass media. [http://www.irenemcgee.com/bio/ McGee's biography] , "irenemcgee.com".] She first came to public attention in 1998, as a cast member of the MTV reality television series, "".

McGee left the show during filming, citing illness, but revealed later that her departure was actually due to ethical objections to the production. As a result of her experience with the show, which included an on-camera assault by a fellow cast member, she became a media activist, and now gives lectures and interviews about what she sees as the manipulation of the mass media, and in particular about the dangers of reality television.

"The Real World: Seattle"

Irene appeared on the show's seventh season, "", in 1998. One critic at the time called her "the cynical girl from New York state" and noted that she did not get as much air-time as other housemates in the premiere. [cite news |first=Melanie |last=McFarland |title=Mtv's Series Appears `Real' In Name Only |url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=2755655&date=19980612 |work=The Seattle Times |date=1998-06-12 |accessdate=2006-02-01 |language=English]

She was suffering from a relapse of Lyme Disease, and exhibited symptoms of it such as neuropathy and headaches. On the fourteenth episode of the season, she broke down in front of her fellow castmates and told them about her condition. [ [http://www.tv.com/the-real-world/the-truth-about-irene/episode/64325/summary.html?tag=ep_list;title;14 "The Real World", Season 7, Episode 140, "The Truth About Irene"] , First aired on MTV on September 15, 1998.]

On the next episode of the program, McGee left the show. However, it is unclear whether her motivations for doing so were due to complications arising from the disease (as was initially reported [ [http://www.tv.com/the-real-world/irene-calls-it-quits/episode/64326/summary.html?tag=ep_list;title;15 "The Real World", Season 7, Episode 141, "Irene Calls It Quits"] , First aired on MTV on September 22, 1998.] cite news |first=Melanie |last=McFarland |title=It's a wrap for 'Real World' in Seattle |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20000605024955/http://www.seattletimes.com/news/entertainment/html98/worl_052898.html |work=The Seattle Times |date=1998-05-28 |accessdate= 2007-02-01 |language= English |quote=Another cast member, 22-year-old New York native Irene McGee, was forced to drop out of the cast because of complications from Lyme disease.] ) or because of ethical objections to the manner in which the show was produced, as McGee hinted in later interviews, including in VH1's "Reality TV Secrets Revealed". ["VH1 News Presents: [http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/vh1_news_presents/76410/episode.jhtml Reality TV Secrets Revealed] " (2004). First broadcast in the United States on VH1 on 2004-06-07.]

In one of the most controversial moments in "Real World" history, McGee's housemate, Stephen Williams, having been called "a homosexual" by McGee as she was moving out, stopped her car as she was leaving, opened the passenger side door, and slapped her. [ [http://www.tv.com/the-real-world/irene-calls-it-quits/episode/64326/summary.html?tag=ep_list;title;15 "The Real World", Season 7, Episode 141, "Irene Calls It Quits"] , First aired on MTV on September 22, 1998.] The producers of the show gave the cast the decision to make Williams leave the house or not, and they decided to let him stay. Williams was then ordered by producers to attend an anger management class. [ [http://www.tv.com/the-real-world/the-aftermath-of-the-slap/episode/64327/summary.html?tag=ep_list;title;16 "The Real World", Season 7, Episode 142, "The Aftermath of the Slap"] , First aired on MTV on September 29, 1998.] On the final track of his "Become the Media" spoken word album, activist Jello Biafra discusses the event: [Biafra, Jello. "Become the Media". "Become the Media". San Francisco: Alternative Tentacles. 2000.]

:"We know "Real World" is not the real world. I recently met a woman named Irene McGee who quit this show and said not even the house was real. The fridges were all filled to the brim with Vlasic pickles delivered daily by the crate load along with gallons of Nantucket Nectar. If she drank anything else, the crew took it from her hand and made sure the Nantucket Nectar label was facing the camera instead. When she walked out, another guy in the cast of "Real World" hit her and the camera guy did nothing . . . When she spoke out, MTV sued her. And "Entertainment Weekly" rated Irene getting smash mouthed the 47th most interesting event on TV that whole year . . . Can’t you MTV think of a better way to raise audience awareness of domestic violence than to make it look cool?"

She was inspired by her experiences on the show to become an activist on "issues of media ethics, media manipulation and the falsehoods of reality television" [http://www.irenemcgee.com/bio/ Official biography] ] .

"No One's Listening"

In 2005, McGee began a youth-oriented radio show/podcast, "No One's Listening", which has been broadcast on two San Francisco radio stations, and covers a wide range of pop-culture and media-related issues. [ [http://www.nooneslistening.org "No One's Listening" website] ] In her time with "No One's Listening", McGee has interviewed many notable internet and mass media personalities, including Noam Chomsky, Lawrence Lessig, Brewster Kahle, Violet Blue and Jimmy Wales. [cite web|url = http://www.nooneslistening.org/guide/gst.php |title = No One's Listening Guest List |accessdate = 2007-02-11 |language = English] The show was honored with the 2006 "Pubbie Award" as Best Bay Area Podcast by the San Francisco Bay Area Publicity Club. [cite web|url = http://www.sfpublicityclub.org/files/Pubbies_2006.pdf |title = SFBAPC Announces Winners of its 2006 Media Excellence Awards – “The Pubbies” |accessdate = 2007-02-11 |language = English]

A separate edition of "No One's Listening" was created for KIFR-FM in 2006 [cite web|url = http://www.nooneslistening.org/blog/?p=44 |title = No One's Listening Blog Entry "Busy Busy" |accessdate = 2007-02-11 |language = English] , but was later rebranded as the "Irene McGee Show" with a different crew and a broader range of discussion topics.

McGee has toured colleges to discuss media manipulation and the falsehoods of reality television, as well as appearing on VH1 and E! Entertainment Television. During a reunion show for the various casts of "The Real World", which she refused to take part in, producers showed old video clips in which McGee aired her criticisms of the show and negative feelings regarding her time on the program.

Lyme disease

McGee has spoken out about Lyme Disease on behalf of several organizations, including the Lyme Disease Association and the Lyme Disease Foundation. She has also been involved with a documentary about Lyme Disease, "Under Our Skin: The Untold Story of Lyme Disease", which is presently in post-production. [cite web|url = http://www.openeyepictures.com/underourskin/index.html |title = Under Our Skin: The Untold Story of Lyme Disease |accessdate = 2006-02-01 |publisher = Open Eye Pictures |language = English] Irene also interviewed fellow Lyme sufferers Michelle Wallace and author Amy Tan on "No One's Listening" podcast entitled "Lymeade" in order to educate listeners on living with the illness.

ocial Brew

On April 28, 2008, McGee premiered as host of Revision3 show Social Brew [cite web|url = http://revision3.com/socialbrew | title = Social Brew - Revision3 | accessdate = 2008-04-28 | language = English] . On June 6, 2008, Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback, officially announced the shows cancellation [cite web|url = http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19505 | title = Social Brew is Cancelled - Revision3 Forums | accessdate = 2008-07-05 | language = English] .

Other Appearances

On July 24, 2008, Revision3's entry in the 48 Hour Film Project debuted at The Roxie in San Francisco. McGee played the therapist in the film. (Video link coming soon.)

References

External links

* [http://www.nooneslistening.org/ No One's Listening Podcast site with McGee blog]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1999-11/04/078r-110499-idx.html Washington Post Article on Real World Appearance]
* [http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2005/fall/145.htm SFSU News profile]
* [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/04/PKGQIF65BB1.DTL&hw=r San Francisco Chronicle column on McGee]
* [http://1069freefm.com/pages/10345.php? KIFR-FM Irene McGee Show Episode Archive]