Rukmini Callimachi

After a year in New Orleans documenting the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in 2006 she began reporting out of Dakar, Senegal, as a West African correspondent for the Associated Press.

There she focused on investigating the exploitation of children in West and Central Africa, for which she was named a Pulitzer Finalist in International Reporting in 2009.

[10] Her reporting focused on Islamic extremism,[11] which helped the Times earn a Pulitzer Finalist accolade in 2016 as part of a group entry.

"[14] The serialized audio documentary Caliphate, first released in April 2018, follows Callimachi as she reports on the Islamic State, and the accounts of Abu Huzaifa al-Kanadi, who claimed to have murdered people while fighting for the Islamic State, and since returned to Canada where he was living freely.

[18] Her work on Caliphate also made her a Pulitzer Finalist again, "[f]or dissecting the power and persistence of the ISIS terror movement, through relentless on-the-ground and online reporting, and masterful use of podcast storytelling.

"[19] In May 2018, the reliability of Huzaifa's story had received concerns from television journalist Diana Swain of CBC News, who suggested that he may be lying to The New York Times.

[21][22][23] In response to criticism of Caliphate's depiction of Chaudry's story, the Times announced on September 30 that the paper would begin a "fresh examination" of the series's reporting.

[27] On December 18, 2020, the Times also announced that, in view of the results of its investigation, it will return the Peabody Award which had been won by the Caliphate podcast.