The face on the cover: The role of pan-Asian American magazines within the Asian American community

Pan-Asian American media, or media targeting the diverse groups of the Asian American community, have struggled to survive in the ethnic media market. Producers of Asian American media have cited lack of advertising support for the struggling nature of Asian American media. Market assumptions of the Asian American community conclude that the Asian American demographic lacks identity with the panethnic Asian American community, and therefore have little interest in pan-Asian American media. This qualitative research explores the role of pan-Asian American magazines within the Asian American community through thematic analysis of pan-Asian American magazines, interviews with producers of pan-Asian American magazines and focus groups with Asian American audiences. Using Uses and Gratifications, Social Identity, and Asian American Panethnicity theories as three interacting theoretical frameworks, this research found a strong connection between racial identity and media consumption. Asian American audiences expressed a desire in seeing media targeted to their own racial demographic, revealing strong market potential for pan-Asian American media, as well as mainstream media featuring more positive portrayals of Asian Americans. However, this research also revealed that existing pan-Asian American media failed to produce effective marketing and quality their bicultural targeted audiences expect from their media outlets.