Jeramy Gordon, former managing editor of the Palo Alto Daily News group, today launched a free daily newspaper in Santa Barbara. Gordon, 23, is the sole owner of the Santa Barbara Daily Sound, which is starting out with a circulation of 3,000 per day, Monday-Friday. Today’s issue was hand-delivered by the paper’s staff and volunteers, including Gordon. The paper contains a combination of local news and a mix of state, national and international news.

“The idea of a free newspaper is so under-explored these days,” said Gordon, a graduate of Menlo College. “Why pay to read the news when you can get it for free?” The free newspaper will be supported 100 percent by advertisers and will offer cheap enough ad rates that even small, independent businesses can get their message out to reader.

Gordon said he got the idea to start a free paper from his former bosses and mentors Dave Price and Jim Pavelich. Price and Pavelich founded the Daily News Group, a chain of six free dailies in the Bay Area, which were sold to Knight Ridder in 2005. Gordon worked at the Daily News for four years, his last year as managing editor.

“Free dailies are the wave of the future,” Gordon said. “As more and more people get tired of buying those big awkward broadsheet newspapers, they’ll see just how valuable our product is.” Gordon can be contacted at (805) 564-6001. [Competitor in Santa Barbara covers arrival of new rival (subscription required)]