Meredith Corp. has joined four other magazine companies in a print advertising campaign to promote the industry.

“The campaign reflects the vitality magazines have now, and will continue to have with audiences of all ages,” Jack Griffin, president of Meredith National Media, said in a news release. “Clearly, magazines continue to resonate on many levels with consumers, and this is reflected in the enormous trust and value readers have for their favorite magazine titles.”

Meredith joins Conde Nast, Hearst Magazines, Time Inc. and Wenner Media in the campaign, which was announced today at a magazine industry conference in San Francisco. The effort to draw attention to the health of the magazine industry had been rumored for months.

“Magazines, The Power of Print” will roll out in the May issues (for weeklies, the issues on sale the week of April 5) of nearly 100 titles and run for seven months in magazines and Web sites from the five publishers, as well as Active Interest Media, American Express Publishing, Bonnier Corp., Emmis Publications, ESPN, National Geographic, New York Magazine, and third-party sites in the food, shelter, sports, entertainment, fashion and news categories, reaching a combined 112 million readers per month.

A digital component will support the print campaign beginning this spring.

The campaign is supported by the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and seeks, among other things, to challenge perceptions about the medium’s relevance and longevity, and to reinforce magazines’ important cultural role.

To support its contention about the health of the industry, the group gathered the following data:

— Magazine readership has risen 4.3 percent in the past five years;

— Average paid subscriptions reached nearly 300 million readers in 2009;

— Adults 18-34 are avid magazine readers, reading more issues and spending more time per issue than their over-34 counterparts;

— During the first 12 years of Google, magazine readership increased 11 percent;

— Magazine effectiveness is growing, with ad recall increasing 13 percent during the past five years; and

— Magazines outperform other media in driving positive shifts in purchase consideration/intent.