Dying Australian newspapers launch survival campaign

Australia's biggest media companies are joining forces to save their printed newspapers from extinction as increased online media has caused circulation and advertising to plummet in recent years.

APN News & Media, Fairfax, News Corp, and Seven West have launched a "Influential by Nature" pro-newspaper campaign in their newspapers, websites, and through trade media to convince advertisers to keep spending with them.

Newspaper advertising revenue has fallen dramatically for years and with digital ads worth only a small fraction of print ones, publishers feel they need to be proactive in promoting the medium.

In 2014, newspapers lost 127 million Australian dollars (96.7 million U.S. dollars) in ad revenue compared to 2013 with newspapers in city areas losing the most down 16 percent year-on- year, according to the latest figures.

This year Goldman Sachs estimated that print's share of the Australian advertising market will crash from about 20 percent to 1.2 percent by 2025.

The media companies say newspapers are better influencers than other media because they are "local, topical and relevant" and are trusted more. Endi