Graeme Wood donates another $1.5m to champion investigative journalism

Philanthropist Graeme Wood – the man who funded the launch of the Global Mail and is underwriting the arrival of The Guardian in Australia – has made a significant new donation to journalism with a $1.5m grant to the US-based The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The grant to the ICIJ is to create an investigative journalism fellowship program with the first recipient being from Australia. Wood has become a board member of The Center for Public Integrity, which the ICIJ is part of.

“On behalf of The Center for Public Integrity and ICIJ, we are tremendously motivated by Mr. Wood’s gift designed to strengthen our international collaborations with other investigative institutions,” said the Center’s Executive Director Bill Buzenberg in a statement. “A new research desk, fellowship program, and above all more reporting capacity will fortify ICIJ’s unique cross-border investigative work.”

Wood made his fortune through travel site Wotif. The Global Mail launched in February last year, backed with a pledge from Wood of $15m over five years. The Guardian launched its digital Australian edition in May.