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Save the Gabber Newspaper

The Gabber’s always been there for Gulfport — now, the Gabber needs you to be there for it.

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Save the Gabber Newspaper

Save the Gabber Newspaper

Save the Gabber Newspaper

Save the Gabber Newspaper

Save the Gabber Newspaper

The Gabber’s always been there for Gulfport — now, the Gabber needs you to be there for it.

The Gabber’s always been there for Gulfport — now, the Gabber needs you to be there for it.

The Gabber’s always been there for Gulfport — now, the Gabber needs you to be there for it.

The Gabber’s always been there for Gulfport — now, the Gabber needs you to be there for it.

Cathy Salustri
Cathy Salustri
Cathy Salustri
Cathy Salustri
1 Campaign |
Gulfport, United States
$8,616 USD 116 backers
3% of $250,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Choose your Perk
Donor page listing

Donor page listing

$25 USD
Est. Shipping
June 2020
33 claimed
Save the Gabber sticker

Save the Gabber sticker

$50 USD
Est. Shipping
June 2020
11 claimed
Donor tee shirt

Donor tee shirt

$100 USD
Est. Shipping
June 2020
12 claimed
Vintage Gulfport history book

Vintage Gulfport history book

$250 USD
Est. Shipping
August 2020
2 claimed
Gabber delivery!

Gabber delivery!

$350 USD
Est. Shipping
November 2020
2 claimed

Gulfport, Florida isn't just any town. The Gabber isn't just any newspaper. 

The Gabber’s always been there for you — now, the Gabber needs you to be there for it. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the closure of the newspaper, but your donations can bring it back. On March 26, 2020, the Gabber Newspaper closed its doors.  Your $25 can help keep the Gabber alive.

Please donate what you can. Do your part to save the Gabber Newspaper, a hyperlocal newspaper that raises up the voices of its community.

Telling Gulfport's stories, one Thursday at a time.

The Gabber is a free weekly paper, distributed every Thursday, but it’s more than that — it’s the voice of Gulfport and the surrounding communities in South Pinellas County. The Gabber shows up when no other news can or will. Without the Gabber, no one’s writing about what’s happening in downtown Gulfport, or at the Gulfport History Museum, or at the Community Garden. No one’s writing about what makes Jimmy Oswain so special (you may know him as “Mr. Gulfport” on the green bicycle), or how Gulfportians help one another throughout the pandemic, where city council candidates get their money, or what’s happening with Gulfport’s arts hub. Since 1968, the Gabber has been the voice of our community and the people who love it.

Gabber reporters sit through city council meetings, show up at every event in the city, and highlight all the good things — little, large, and heartwarming — happening in our community. It’s the paper that tells you what’s happening at Bogie, laughs along with Gulfport, reports on Little League, celebrates Gulfport’s first same-sex marriage, and tells you about kidnapped goats.

The Gabber is a vital resource for clubs and organizations throughout the community. The paper’s a digital and print bulletin board — and sounding board — for not only the community, but local government, charitable organizations, and small businesses. 

For more than half-century, the Gabber Newspaper has served Gulfport and South Pinellas County. It is one of the last family-owned papers in Florida, and it needs your help to come back stronger than ever. The Gabber ceased publishing in print and online in March, and Gulfport and the South Pinellas communities it serves weekly are anxious for it to return. 


If we meet our goal...

What will it take to keep the Gabber alive? It’s going to take money to publish the news online, inform the community, and pay the bills. This money will keep the Gabber publishing, and help make the changes needed to adapt during the pandemic.

  • While this money will, among other things, pay salaries for an editor, reporters, and a designer, the owners will not take a salary until the pandemic crisis passes and the paper is on sure footing again. 
  • The Gabber will resume publishing digitally throughout the pandemic, with expanded online content. 
  • Once the pandemic ends and the economy starts to bounce back, we'll resume printing every Thursday. 

Across the country, we’re seeing newspapers die. Standard funding sources are understandably pre-occupied with coronavirus payouts, and projects like this are not even on their radar. Help keep the Gabber serving our community — do not let our voices go silent!

Do your part to save the Gabber — $25 suggested, but any amount helps!

Other Ways You Can Help

If donating isn't for you right now, that doesn't mean you can't help bring back the Gabber Newspaper!

  • Make a low-interest loan to us. You choose the rate — up to 5 % — depending on what you can afford (or by how philanthropic you feel!) Contact us to set up a low- or no-interest loan. 
  • Are you an advertiser, or do you want to be? Pre-pay for your ads. We've relied on your business for 52 years, and you're the reason we can exist at all. To show our appreciation for our advertisers, we're going back to our 2016 rates. You can pre-pay for as many ads as you want. (You can also give this as a gift!) Load up a gift card with pre-paid advertising here
  • Share, share, share. The more people who see this, the more people who can help save the Gabber Newspaper! And hey, while you're at it, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

 

A word from the owners and publishers Ken and Deb Reichart

We've gotten some questions about our fundraiser here, and we want to be clear: We, along with Cathy Salustri, are looking into all means to bring back the paper to the community, but that requires capital. Your donation will go directly back into the paper in order to make that happen.

—Ken and Deb Reichart, Publishers, the Gabber Newspaper

 

Team Gabber!

  

Ken Reichart and Deb Reichart are the publishers. They bought the Gabber in the early '90s. They're joined by...

 

Cathy Salustri, who worked for the Gabber as a reporter and columnist from 2003-2015. She's also worked as the arts + entertainment editor at Creative Loafing Tampa (2016-2019) and currently works as a freelance writer. She's the author of Backroads of Paradise (2016, University Press of Florida), which appeared in the New York Times. The rest of the team includes...

Laura Mulrooney

Laura Mulrooney was a reporter for the Gabber until its closure in March 2020. She has a master's degree in Journalism and Media Studies Graduate from the University Of South Florida- St. Petersburg. While in graduate school, Laura’s work for several local publications won her the Society for Environmental Journalists Emerging Environmental Journalist Award. Her work focused on childhood hunger and agricultural gag laws. She's also served our country overseas in Operation in Iraqi Freedom (2008-2009) and is a decorated combat war veteran, which did prepare her for covering city hall in a unique way.

Shelly Wilson

Shelly Wilson worked as the editor of the Gabber Newspaper until its closure in March 2020. She currently runs her own editing business, Last Word Editing. She's returning to the paper as the editor. 

Joey Neill

Joey Neill joins the Gabber Newspaper as its Creative Director. Joey has more than 15 years experience with print and digital media, and lost his job as the Creative Director at Creative Loafing Tampa in March. 

Our team believes in the Gabber, so much they've asked to wait to get paid until after the deal closes and we have funding in place for the next six months. For those of us displaced journalists, there's an energy among us that comes from doing something important. We all believe in the future of the Gabber and local news!

 

View the Gabber Newspaper’s print editions and online coverage here

Making a donation does not give the donor any ownership or editorial control of the Gabber Newspaper.

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