Foundation Supporter purchases Gulfport’s Gabber Newspaper
Kudos to Cathy Salustri and her husband Barry Loper for keeping the Gabber’s hyperlocal news alive.
Shared from USF Alumni News –
“The Gabber has been such a fabric of the Gulfport community,” [new owner] Cathy Salustri says. “Even though I hadn’t worked for the paper in five years, it really bothered me when I heard it was closing.”
Inspired in part by encouragement from the community, Salustri began discussing the possibility of purchasing the Gabber from its former owners. In May, it was announced that Salustri planned to buy the paper with Barry Loper, her business partner and husband. They set up a crowdfunding campaign, which raised $8,600, and sold advertising gift cards for people who wanted to support the paper’s return to print. The deal was confirmed by the end of June, and the Gabber will return to print on July 9.
“I wasn’t looking to buy a newspaper,” Salustri says. “I still have a successful career writing and speaking about Florida. It’s not like I was unhappy or looking for a change.”
Salustri decided to take on the challenge of resurrecting the Gabber in part as a service to the Gulfport community. And she credits the community with the paper’s return.
“It was because of the community that we were able to bring the Gabber back,” she says.
photo credit: Laura Mulrooney