Rukmini Maria Callimachi (born Sichitiu[1] on 25 June 1973)[2] is a Romanian-born American journalist. She currently works for The New York Times. She had been a Pulitzer Prize finalist four times. She hosted the New York Times podcast Caliphate, for which won a Peabody Award, but the Times returned the award after an investigation cast doubt on a significant portion of the podcast.
Rukmini Sichitiu left Romania at age 5, in 1979: her mother and grandmother took her on a trip to Switzerland, during which they defected; Rukmini's father remained in Bucharest, to alleviate suspicions, and finally joined them in 1980.[1] According to her own recollections, she had a hard time fitting into Swiss society. Four years later, her parents were separated. While her father stayed in Lausanne, Rukmini and her mother left for Ojai, California, where Rukmini attended primary school.[1] She is a graduate of The Oak Grove School and The Thacher School. She took diplomas from Dartmouth College and from Exeter College at the University of Oxford, where she did a graduate course in linguistics.[4]
After publishing some poetry, Callimachi became a freelancer in New Delhi, India, including for Time magazine.[5][6][7] In 2003, she joined the Associated Press in Portland, Oregon. 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.[8] Callimachi later became known for her work on extremism, and was again named Pulitzer Finalist in 2014 for "her discovery and fearless exploration of internal documents that shattered myths and deepened understanding of the global terrorist network of al-Qaida."[9]
In 2014, Callimachi was hired by The New York Times.[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.[12] Callimachi's work in investigative journalism was recognised in 2016, as she won the inaugural International Center for Journalists' Integrity in Journalism Award, for her "exceptional contribution to exposing crimes against humanity".[13]
In 2020, Callimachi was reassigned at the Times and will no longer cover terrorism.[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.[15][16][17] The podcast won a Peabody Award in the radio/podcast category that year.[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.[20] In September 2020, the Canadian Abu Huzaifa whose real name was Shehroze Chaudhry was arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and charged under Canadian hoax laws for fabricating his story on social media of traveling to Syria and joining ISIS, which was covered by the Caliphate podcast produced by The New York Times. His case is ongoing.[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.[24]
In December 2020, The New York Times admitted that much of the podcast had been based on bad information, that significant errors had been made at the newspaper, and that the Caliphate "podcast as a whole should not have been produced with Mr. Chaudhry as a central narrative character."[25][26] Callimachi was reassigned as a result.[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.[28]
The ISIS Files
Over 15,000 files, now known as "The ISIS Files"—obtained by Callimachi and her "Iraqi colleagues during embeds with the Iraqi army"—were digitize[d], translate[d], analyze[d], and publish[ed]" by The New York Times and George Washington University in an "exclusive partnership". The two partners announced their intentions to do so in 2018, and by 2020, the files have been online.[29]
There has been criticism of how Callimachi acquired the ISIS Files.[30][31] The documents are alleged to have been removed from Iraq without permission, displaying a "neo-imperial mindset".[30]
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