Drink up? Or dose up? There’s not much difference according to an explosive Associated Press story  about the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water. Plenty of Internet buzz already (click here, here, and here), most of it from folks smarter than me, but here’s the paragraph in the story that I am qualified to opine about:

In the course of a five-month inquiry… the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists.

  
In other words: preparing this important story was a massive and expensive undertaking. It’s a throwback to the 20th century – back when big names in journalism competed for Pulitzers instead of paparrazi photos. But in today’s industry, with layoffs lurking around every corner, how many institutions are left that can afford to assign a team of reporters to work on one story for five months?

The traditional journalism business model that produced this great story seems to be headed for the trash heap of history. Let’s hope somebody comes up with a new media business model that can fund important investigative work like this in the future.