Competing on user engagement, connecting with readers to push stories forward, and a CEO learning the value of community news. Plus an initiative to end an information “ghetto.”

Huffington Post relaunches General Mills’ ‘Live Better’ website
A GM site with a Huff Post staffer “selecting stories” reveals advertisers’ deep push toward branded content. Would doing this locally offer revenue opportunities or risk trust and transparency?

User Engagement Is Digital Mantra In Mich.
A useful use case for local publishers anywhere: The fierce competition to engage community in a place where “news doesn’t break so much as pace itself to the rhythms of heartland American life.”

The Murrow Rural Information Initiative
Finding itself in “a digital state with a rural information ghetto,” Washington State University plans citizen training, a “Murrow News Barometer” and teaching the value of local news.

The Washington Post Launches Crowdsourcing Platform
What’s the purpose behind your outreach? The Post’s stated goals go deep – aiming to create “a place for people to come together and address a variety of challenges and thoughtful topics.”

Daily Voice CEO: We’re ‘Far Closer’ to Profitable Than the Competition Is
Almost a year into leading a NE hyperlocal news network, Zohar Yardeni’s big takeaway: “I am learning how people feel about community news. I underestimated the role it plays in people’s lives.”

Google Takes Political Online Ads Local, Allows Campaigns to Target Congressional Districts
As political campaigns target ads ever more local with Google, how might local publishers get a piece of the political ad buy?