DAILY NEWS, AOL CREATE ON-LINE SITE.

Byline: P.J. Huffstutter Daily News Staff Writer

In a partnership aimed at forming a vibrant local on-line community in Los Angeles, the Daily News has launched a site on America Online as part of AOL's new Digital City Los Angeles.

Both the Daily News and the Digital City Los Angeles sites will be formally unveiled today at a series of events in downtown Los Angeles, coinciding with AOL's ``On the Move'' Tour - a traveling road show of 30 cities in 30 days.

The AOL caravan, at which visitors will get a hands-on tour of the nation's largest commercial on-line service, will alight in the outdoor plaza at 444 Flower St. from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. today.

Steve Case, AOL's chairman and CEO, will meet with users at the plaza at 5 p.m.

The Daily News on-line site (AOL keyword: Daily News) contains stories and photos from each day's newspaper, plus interactive content developed specifically for the site.

An electronic extension of the newspaper, it was designed as a place for people to both gather information about their neighborhoods and communities, and interact with one another through on-line debates, idea exchanges and events.

``We think this partnership will be of tremendous benefit to people who live and work in Los Angeles,'' said Mark Barnhill, assistant managing editor at the Daily News, who supervised development of the newspaper's AOL site.

``We're combining the community ties and information resources of the Daily News with the interactive technology and expertise of America Online,'' Barnhill said.

``The result is a place where people will not only be able to learn what's going on in their communities - they'll also be able to engage one another in an interactive dialogue about Los Angeles and its future.''

The Daily News is one of several information providers who have formed partnerships with America Online in the Digital City Los Angeles project. Others include L.A. Weekly, the Brentwood Media Group and Artists Underground, all of which have sites on Digital City Los Angeles.

The main Digital City Los Angeles site (AOL keyword: Los Angeles) is produced by a local staff headed by general manager Rich Rygg, who said the focus is on generating content which resonates at the community level.

``AOL has always been about community,'' Rygg said. ``There are more than 400,000 people who use AOL in the Los Angeles area, and those people care about one another.''

Everything is geared to where people live, Rygg said. Interactive chat rooms and message boards are geared for L.A.-related conversations. Users also can browse through local maps, electronic shopping and tourist information.

``We think things like personals and classified advertisements are going to work much better this way,'' said Rygg.

The nation's largest commercial on-line provider hopes the regionally focused project will appeal to the nearly 440,000 Los Angeles County residents who subscribe to the service.

``The great thing about Digital City is it's using a new medium to bring relevant information home in a timely fashion,'' said Aili Jokela, national education coordinator for AOL. ``It's one-stop shopping for all the news and information you could hope for.''

The Daily News site opens at a front screen which contains links in several directions:

To the top stories and photos of the day, in sections mirroring the newspaper.

To a community area called Main Street - an electronic neighborhood with an array of community-based resources and information.

To Message Board where users can add their voices to debate on hot issues of the day.

To a Live! events area, where personalities will be appearing regularly in on-line events.

``We're pleased to be working with AOL to build an on-line community that we think will inform, provoke, amuse and entertain people - and bring them a little bit closer to their friends and neighbors across Los Angeles,'' said Larry T. Beasley, president, CEO and publisher of the Daily News.

In all, AOL has plans to open 29 Digital Cities in the United States.

Though people must now subscribe to America Online to get into the areas, the company has plans to make the information accessible eventually through the World Wide Web.

Several commercial outlets either are developing or already have established on-line projects similar to Digital City Los Angeles. Microsoft Corp. is working on one system, code name Cityscape.

Last month, Yahoo! released its Yahoo! L.A. and Pacific Bell kicked off its At Hand service, both a combination of original editorial content and extensive listing of California merchants. Both are free to anyone with access to the Web.

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Photo: This is the front screen of the Daily News on-line s ite on AOL.