Canberra, April 13 (IANS): 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 and Media, Fairfax, News Corp, and Seven West have launched a "Influential by Nature" pro-newspaper campaign to convince advertisers to continue the circulation of the print editions, Xinhua news agency reported.

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 A$127 million ($96 million) in ad revenue compared to 2013 with newspapers in city areas losing the most -- down 16 percent year-on-year, latest figures revealed.

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".