Media Specialists Association re-elects Dentsu X's Yap Chee Weng as president

The Media Specialists Association (MSA) has re-elected Yap Chee Weng (pictured), CEO of Dentsu X Malaysia, as president. It also recently elected Cindy Chia, managing director of Mindshare Malaysia, as VP.The council is represented by Bluedale Integrated, Carat Media Services, Initiative Media, Starcom Mediavest Group, Mediacompete, Omnicom Media Group, Trapper Media Services and Zenith Media.According to Yap, as traditional media regains public trust, media outlets also needs to be mindful that they are living in a digital age. This multiplies their responsibility and adds a new dimension to their role. He said that the media is no longer in the business of merely creating and shaping public opinion or presenting them with the right information, but rather delivering consumers the right information in real time.To stay in business, media outlets need to embrace change, evolve with readers and also see social media not as a foe, but as a trusted ally, Yap added. He also highlighted the need for media outlets to reinvent themselves and place more focus and importance on their consumers.“We need to work together to unlock new opportunities like the new sense of press freedom that is taking shape which will affect the entire Malaysian media landscape and also to create integrated solutions which provides better value to the readers," he said.Yap said MSA will continue to play an important active role in facilitating the collaboration and assisting media outlets in keeping abreast of industry trends and best practices. "In this fast-paced hyperconnected world, whoever that can provide the most credible news, balanced with what consumers want, will emerge as the winner," he said.