• To monitor depictions in the media of persons of Asian Pacific descent.
• To educate the public and the media about what persons of Asian Pacific descent find racially offensive, stereotypical, and/or inaccurate and why it is harmful.
• To advocate and provide reinforcement for fair, accurate, sensitive, and balanced depictions of persons of Asian Pacific descent in all facets of the media.
• To discourage and fight for the end of gender stereotyping of persons of Asian Pacific descent.
• To hold individuals accountable for unfair or derogatory statements made in the media about persons of Asian Pacific decent.
• To serve as a resource for information regarding the treatment of Asian Pacific Americans in the media.
• To support, encourage, and promote, Asian Pacific American talent in both the media and the arts, and advocate their increased employment in these fields.
• To organize and operate a network among Asian Pacific Americans and other community organizations in order to develop a national presence as a media watchdog/advocacy organization capable of representing the concerns of the Asian Pacific American community.
• To encourage increased news coverage of significant issues of concern to Asian Americans.
• To foster an environment of increased sensitivity toward, and respect for, the dignity of the Asian Pacific community.
• To improve the present state of the treatment and portrayals of persons of Asian Pacific descent in the media and in society.

MANAA is part of the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition and Asian Pacific American Media Coalition which regularly meets with the top four television networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox) to encourage diversity in their programming.