I moved to Vermont just in time to catch the tail end of the Burlington Free Press‘ long reign as the state’s leading newspaper. It was a full-sized daily with a deep and wide-ranging pool of journalists including three experienced reporters covering state politics and policy, which made the Freeps an indispensable resource for anyone interested in such things.

That institution is long gone, and things have just gotten worse and worse, sadder and sadder. The latest nail in the Free Press’ coffin is its coverage of the Burlington Police Department’s “roll-playing scenario” in which a bunch of high school students were terrified by someone pretending to be a masked gunman.

Or should I say the paper’s disgraceful non-coverage. Because so far, the Free Press’ only mention of the incident, which has been the talk of the town ever since, was a story written by a USA TODAY reporter phoning it in from some other part of the country.

That’s it. The Burlington Free Press is dead.

The article is entitled “Police in Burlington, Vermont Apologize to Students for Mock Shooting Demonstration.” Yes, it ran on the Free Press’ website with a headline that said “Burlington, Vermont,” as if any Freeps reader would confuse the Queen City with some other Burlington. (The article seems to have been pulled from the paper’s website, perhaps out of sheer embarrassment. It’s still posted on USA TODAY’s site.)

That “Vermont” reference is a little thing, but it’s what happens when reporters and editors from elsewhere provide your “local” coverage.

The story has continued to reverberate since the incident six days ago, and yet there has been no follow-up by the Free Press’ skeleton crew.

I don’t blame the handful of people who still draw a paycheck from the paper. They’re working their tails off to fill their quotas by any means necessary. They don’t have the resources to cover breaking news. And the priority, by order of their corporate overlords, is clickability, not relevance or importance.

The result is a paper and website full of soft feature content and high school sports. And a favored form of clickbait: the headline in the form of a question. At this moment, the top story on the Free Press’ website is entitled “Did Vermont Restaurants Win Any Prestigious James Beard Awards?” Because hey, who’s gonna buy the cow if you give away the milk for free?

Besides, since the answer is “No,” a story with a real headline is a lot less of a draw.

You’ll also find “how-to” headlines, like “How to Watch Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks Game 2,” which is still on the website two days after Game 2 was played.

When I moved to Vermont, the Free Press was the dominant force in Vermont journalism. Now, it’s a pale imitation of Seven Days, except not as well written or comprehensive or even aware of the community it purports to cover.

Corporate-owned papers are hollowed-out shells that produce nothing of value but still occupy valuable real estate in the journalistic landscape. I wish they’d just dry up and blow away so maybe there’d be an opportunity to create something new in those spaces.