Jaweed Kaleem is a national correspondent at the Los Angeles Times. Based in L.A. with a focus on issues outside of California, he has traveled to dozens of states to cover news and deeply reported features on the complexity of the American experience. His articles frequently explore race, religion, politics, social debates and polarized society.
Kaleem was formerly based in London, where he was a lead news writer on Russia’s war on Ukraine, the death of Queen Elizabeth II and political crisis in the United Kingdom. In Europe, he launched The Times’ award-winning Global California initiative with coverage of American migrants in Portugal, Hollywood in the Baltics and the Nordic quest to win over U.S. video gaming.
Kaleem’s dispatches from the U.S. include a road trip from California to Oklahoma to tell the story of Sikh truckers on the “Punjabi American highway,” a year-long investigation into how COVID-19 devastated refugees working in one of the nation’s largest pork factories in Sioux Falls, S.D., and narratives exploring race, the 2020 election and the pandemic across America.
His work has received first-place citations from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society for Features Journalism, the Asian American Journalists Assn., the South Asian Journalists Assn., the National Headliner Awards, the American Academy of Religion, the Excellence in Financial Journalism Awards and the L.A. Press Club’s Southern California Journalism Awards.
Before joining The Times, Kaleem was a religion reporter and editor at HuffPost and a reporter at the Miami Herald, where he was a member of a Pulitzer Prize finalist team recognized for coverage of Haiti. A longtime fan of the religion beat, he is a former vice president of the Religion News Assn. and the Religion News Foundation and was a fellow in religion reporting at the East-West Center and the International Center for Journalists. Raised by Pakistani immigrants, he attended Emerson College in Boston and grew up in Northern Virginia.
Latest From This Author
Some of the 3.5 million Muslims in the U.S. are speaking out on topics where they align more closely with Christian conservatives, such as LGBTQ+ rights.
Sept. 25, 2023
There is a rise in deadly racist shootings and hate crimes in the U.S., experts say. What to know about recent racist and antisemitic attacks.
Aug. 31, 2023
After Maui’s wildfire, with tourism down and Hawaii home prices already high, some are making mainland moves, with California and Las Vegas in their sights.
Aug. 29, 2023
As Maui hotel rooms sit empty after the deadly Hawaii wildfire that devastated Lahaina, some are sounding economic alarms, asking tourists to return.
Aug. 28, 2023
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green says the fires are probably the state’s deadliest natural disaster in decades.
Aug. 11, 2023
Wind-whipped wildfires raced through the heart of the island of Maui, killing 53 people, forcing evacuations and gutting much of the historic town of Lahaina.
Aug. 10, 2023
Florida has outdone other Republican-led states with the most extreme laws in the U.S. targeting transgender adults. Can this lifelong Floridian stay?
July 20, 2023
France is officially ‘colorblind.’ But that belies the country’s complicated history of policing, immigration, religion and national identity.
July 23, 2023
A Black woman and a white woman went viral fighting racism. Then they stopped speaking to each other
A Black woman and a white woman who made a ‘Starbucks racism’ video that went viral joined to combat racism and teach DEI workshops. Now they don’t speak to each other.
May 17, 2023
The shootings of four young people after simple, everyday mistakes have shone a spotlight on the proliferation of ‘stand your ground’ laws in the U.S.
April 21, 2023