Ann Bassette still attends classes and crams for exams like most college students, but she has traded in her part-time Starbucks job for lights, camera, and action.

Bassette, 21, is a creative writing and journalism major who hosts and produces YO!TV. The show, which reports on youth-related issues, is rooted from the Pacific News Service Bay Area magazine, YO! Youth Outlook. On Sept. 12 the Warner Brothers (WB) network aired the show for the first time.

After graduating high school in 2001, Bassette began an internship at YO!. After roughly three months, she was offered a job as a staff writer.

The YO! staff organizes workshops for Bay Area high schools. Bassette and co-workers travel to classrooms in an attempt to encourage young people to write their opinions in any creative form.

Two years ago, Bassette began a new challenge-- filming and producing clips from interviews to post on the YO! website. Soon enough, the clips were turned into a San Francisco Public Access show. The program primarily focuses on Bay Area life and giving a voice to young people, ages 14 to 25.

“Nobody really expected the show to be picked up,” said Bassette. “Doing the show is fun. But now that it is on the WB, it is great. We can receive more grants and purchase equipment that will definitely improve the show.”

YO!TV’s 24-year-old co-host Josuè Rojas admires Bassette for teaching herself to produce and edit video, through trial and error.

“Constantly, she is trying to better herself and learn something new,“ said Rojas.

Bassette feels productive, like she is participating in something positive.

“I love YO! and what they stand for,” said Bassette. “We come up with our own ideas and then simply act on them.”

Some of Bassette’s most memorable YO!TV moments include fun segments, like interviewing the San Francisco R&B group One Voice, and reporting on street basketball, also known as “street ballin’,” in Union City.

The first show on Sept. 12 included an interview with Bay Area rapper San Quinn and reactions to the Michael Moore film, “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

“Ann and I have great energy together,” said Rojas. “It makes the show a lot of fun. I don’t know what I would do without her unforgettable laugh.”

Don't miss YO!TV every Sunday at 7 a.m., on cable channel 13 and local channel 20.
For more information on Yo! please visit