Eight years ago, she was the only person to walk off the set of a reality show filming as she was slapped by a housemate. Today, that same girl with the raspy voice recognized as Irene McGee from “The Real World Seattle” is the host of two radio shows.

“I don’t want to talk about the Real World for the rest of my life,” said BECA graduate student McGee, 30, who has attended various colleges and universities discussing her experience on “The Real World” in 1998.

As the host of “No One’s Listening” on SF State’s radio station KSFS, McGee discusses various topics pertaining to media ethics and literacy for the younger generation of college students. After its September 2005 debut, the radio show attracted CBS owned Free FM 106.9 in Dec., who offered McGee a one-hour spot on their station.

This is the same station known for its infamous radio personalities Adam Carolla and Tom Leykis.

"The Irene McGee Show,” which is largely driven by McGee's amusing radio personality as well as callers, includes BECA graduate student and producer of "No One's Listening" Chris Cornell, 35, who sits in as a "sort of co-host" for McGee. Together, they discuss bay area gossip ranging anywhere from the the 1906 Earthquake to the world of online dating.

The show airs Friday evenings from 11 p.m. to midnight. She said it is refreshing for callers to hear a female on the radio, and one who may not just be talking about sex per se. The concept of "No One's Listening" was the original show that sparked the attention of CBS, but given the time frame, McGee said the station wanted her to change gears.

“I think Irene is different, because what Irene is selling is herself,” said Board Technician Dan Carlisle for Free FM 106.9 and for the “Irene McGee Show,” who said listeners are attracted to McGee's show because of her personality. Carlisle has been in the radio business for 30 years and is one of the original staffers of 106.7 KROQ- an alternative radio station popular amongst Southern California listeners.

McGee, who entered SF State in hopes of starting a television show on media ethics instead, created the idea of “No One’s Listening” after another BECA graduate student decided to do a radio show as a creative project for her thesis. In the process of helping out, McGee branched out to start a radio show about media literacy, which led to “No One’s Listening.”

The show was finalized in collaboration with Cornell, as well as co-producer Collin White, 27, and co-host Skye Christensen, 28, who are both BECA graduate students.

Ex-Counting Crows drummer Steve Bowman also calls in to the show weekly and comments about the topics in discussion. Other segments include The "Gay Report" done by another BECA graduate student Melissa Burnell, who discusses what takes place in the gay community. At the moment, all crew members volunteer their time on the radio show.

“In today's world we are swimming in an ocean of media, and Irene's show is sort of a lifeboat in that sea,” said Undergraduate Advising Coordinator and Professor of Media Management and Law, Miriam Smith, who is also an entertainment attorney in the bay area.

Each week, McGee interviews leading industry professionals from all facets of the media, as a means of establishing a forum where young people can also talk about the media and how it is affecting them. She said she asks questions that students may want to hear and not just
questions that the professionals expect to be asked.

Past guests include Jimmy Whales, founder of Wikipedia- an online information sharing Website, SF State Alumni Peter Casey, co-creator of the television show Frasier, and Founding Editor of the Rolling Stones, Ben Fong-Torres, who currently writes a column called “Radio Waves” for the
San Francisco Chronicle every Sunday.

McGee's feet are wet enough, and her ideas -- and personality -- are fresh enough that she could be a fit for any number of talk stations, said Fong-Torres in a column he wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle on Dec. 4, 2005.

The two-hour radio show is pre-recorded weekly since the idea of listening to it on campus is almost impossible due to the lack of radio signals, according to the crew. It is then converted onto pod-cast on their official Web site www.nooneslistening.org. The entire show is posted in 30 minute segments every few days, since the show is too long to post all at once, according to McGee and [X] Press archives of previous coverage on the show.

The show will be featured on iTunes this week for the first time.

“The thing that really makes this work and really makes it keep going when we are doing so much work and not getting that much out of it is that we have a lot of fun,” said Cornell. “We get to laugh a lot and that’s important.”

McGee, who never had intentions of pursuing the radio industry, began speaking at universities almost immediately after she left the Real World through the Keppler Agency, a well-known speaking agency that represents college students as well as business groups.

She said she left the Real World because she hated the experience and was portrayed inaccurately. Originally she felt it would be a good opportunity to voice her opinions. Instead, she felt manipulated. She said, “the show was a big bust and I was known as the girl who got hit.” It was speaking at colleges that made her realize the gap between how things are made and produced and what people think they are seeing.

“You think you’re living in a mansion with hot guys and you’re getting paid for it, but it’s really a studio and there's lights everywhere,” said McGee. “It’s set up for conflict. There’s no doors anywhere. It’s a terrible, terrible environment. It’s not healthy. People will do anything to be on television and that’s sad.”

McGee said “The Real World Seattle” has not in any way influenced industry professionals to take part in her interviews.

"I love radio,” said McGee. “I love being able to talk to people, and I love giving people the opportunity to talk and answer questions, and that's really special. “