Gulfport’s hometown weekly, The Gabber, is staring down a make or break deadline. The long-running free paper, which has been around since 1968 and is a familiar face at council meetings and neighborhood events, has told readers it may shut down for good if it cannot raise $160,000 by July 1. Publisher Cathy Salustri and her husband have been quietly propping up the operation for years, but rising legal bills and a widening budget gap have pushed them to roll out a small-membership campaign in hopes of staying alive.
“If we don’t hit our fundraising goal by July 1, the paper is done,” Salustri wrote. She has told readers that she and her husband have been putting in between $70,000 and $90,000 of their own money each year to keep the paper going, according to Creative Loafing Tampa. That outlet reports that The Gabber is facing roughly a $90,000 budget shortfall plus about $70,000 in legal fees, a one-two punch that helped set the $160,000 fundraising target.
The Gabber’s homepage spells out the stakes with a fundraising drive and a progress bar that already shows thousands raised. The paper notes it can likely hit the goal if about 8% of readers sign on for around $22 a month. The Gabber Newspaper stresses that it does not plan to slap a paywall on its local reporting and is instead asking for recurring small contributions to cover payroll, printing and legal defense.
Court fight and fees
The financial crunch is tied to a defamation lawsuit filed after the 2024 CD-13 Democratic primary. Court records show a judge dismissed the claims with prejudice and found that the pleadings violated Florida’s Anti-SLAPP statute. Defense lawyers have asked the court to award roughly $70,406.50 in attorneys’ fees, although fee collection is on hold while the plaintiff appeals. The dismissal order and the motion for fees are available through the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court.
Why local news matters
Salustri says The Gabber’s core mission is neighborhood government and community affairs, the kind of ground-level coverage that bigger regional outlets are less likely to touch. Public radio coverage has framed the current fundraising sprint as part of a broader crisis facing hyperlocal newsrooms across the country. WMNF 88.5 FM reports that dwindling advertising dollars, combined with mounting legal costs, pushed the paper toward a membership model in an effort to stay independent and free to read.
How readers can help
The Gabber is asking supporters to pitch in with monthly commitments of about $22 or one-time gifts of any size. Readers who need a tax deduction can route their donations through a Florida Press Foundation portal. The paper’s donation page lists suggested amounts, a form for recurring payments and a link for tax-deductible contributions to the Florida Press program. The Gabber lays out the options for would-be contributors.
“We will not paywall the news. News should be free so everyone has the same information, regardless of income,” Salustri told Creative Loafing Tampa. With the July deadline closing in, the fate of this Gulfport institution now rests with its readers, local funders and the outcome of an ongoing appeal.
