Dissertation Defense: Anmol Panda

The School of Information is pleased to announce the oral defense of Anmol Panda.

Title: How Media, Engagement, and Identities Relate to Political Behavior among Asian Americans

Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Time: 1:00-3:00pm

Location: Founders Room (LCSIB 3470) and Online via Zoom

https://umich.zoom.us/j/95603213033?jst=2

Libby Hemphill, serving as committee chair, will preside over the oral defense. 

All are welcome to attend!

Abstract:

Over the past decade and a half, the news media environment has diversified significantly, evolving from one dominated by print, television, and talk radio to one that now encompasses text-, image-, and video-based social media platforms. This shift carries profound implications for media effects research. Prior studies have tended to examine traditional news media and social media in isolation, or through coarse usage metrics. Much of this work also relies on social media trace data, which limits a holistic assessment of how demographic characteristics such as race moderate media's relationship with political attitudes. Finally, media effects research has largely overlooked Asian Americans, a critical and rapidly growing demographic group in the United States.

This dissertation addresses these gaps through three studies that collectively: (1) document associations between media use and attitudes toward racialized policies, with an emphasis on Asian Americans; (2) situate these associations within a framework of identity, past experience, perceived policy impact, and group positionality; and (3) compare how television-based news media and social media relate to political attitudes and behavior.

The first study examines how gender and nativity moderate the relationship between news media use and support for policing and immigration-related policies among Asian Americans. The second study documents patterns of political engagement on social media associated with support for Donald Trump, and how this relationship with voting behavior varies by race. The third study quantifies the relationship between ethnic- and youth-oriented social media use and affirmative action attitudes among Asian Americans, incorporating the model minority stereotype and perceived personal policy impact.

Collectively, this dissertation contributes to a growing body of research on Asian Americans and racialized public opinion, and demonstrates the need for more granular, platform-specific measurement in future studies of media and political attitudes.