Pearce
Robinson

Independent Journalist & Investigative Reporter
Development Diplomat · Strategic Advisor

A Caribbean journalist examining the institutions, decisions and public records that shape people's lives.

Working between London and Port of Spain, Robinson reports on governance, public money, national security, civil liberties and press freedom across Trinidad & Tobago and the wider Caribbean.

Portrait of Pearce Robinson
London / Port of Spain · Reporting & analysis

Power, public money, security and accountability

Documents, corroboration, source protection and right of reply

Trinidad & Tobago · Caribbean · London · International

Commonwealth · OAS · UN · governments and international organisations

The work begins with the record.

Robinson's journalism examines how power is exercised, how public money is spent and what happens when institutions are asked to account for themselves.

His investigations are built around primary material: legislation as introduced, auditors' and regulators' reports, judgments, filings, contracts and official correspondence. Significant propositions are linked to the underlying record wherever it can lawfully be published.

Information is cross-checked. Established fact is distinguished from allegation, analysis and unresolved question. Confidential sources are protected, but confidentiality never replaces the need for corroboration.

Education

GEM School on Governance, Economics & Management · Mexico City

Ecumenical formation in governance, economics and management, convened by the World Council of Churches.

University of Kent · Canterbury

Honours graduate in Politics and International Relations, with an academic grounding in institutions, incentives and state power.

Cambridge Regional College · Cambridge

Performing arts, graduating with triple Distinction; training that later informed broadcast work and public speaking.

The Ravensbourne School · London

Secondary education in south-east London, where early community work began.

Institutions & appointments

Journalism remains editorially distinct from diplomatic and advisory work. Relevant interests are disclosed where they bear on a report.

Fellow, Oxford Oracle

Member of the Oxford-headquartered innovation fellowship, with work spanning research, innovation and institutional strategy.

Chairman, Scarlet41

Leads a development organisation convening public, multilateral and private-sector figures across seventeen countries.

OAS and hemispheric engagement

Continued work across South America, the Caribbean and the wider Americas on development and international affairs.

BBC World Service

Panellist in a Commonwealth debate ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London; subsequently a contributor on regional and international affairs.

United Nations Human Rights Council

Engagement in Geneva with the international human-rights system and its institutions.

House of Lords, Palace of Westminster

Addressed a youth debate on Brexit convened with Commonwealth youth leaders.

Fifth Summit of the Americas

Covered the Port of Spain summit as a young freelance journalist, reporting from a meeting of leaders across the hemisphere.

Community work in Lewisham and Bromley

Coordinated youth projects and contributed to programmes widening access to public life, education and opportunity.

Development diplomacy

Alongside journalism, Robinson works on development policy, international cooperation and the interests of small island developing states. Experience across the Caribbean, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific informs a comparative understanding of institutions and power.

BBC World Service and regional media

His broadcast work includes the BBC World Service's Commonwealth coverage and appearances across Caribbean television and radio on politics, security, governance and regional affairs.

Watch interviews and analysis

The Office of Pearce Robinson

The Office is the separate home of Robinson's diplomatic, advisory and institutional work.

Independent media record

The Guardian · The New York Times · BBC World Service · The War Zone · Army Recognition

Robinson has been quoted by The Guardian on press freedom, confidential-source protection and investigative journalism, and by The New York Times in its reporting on the U.S. military radar deployment in Tobago; the Times also identified him as the independent journalist who first published images of the radar. He participated in the BBC World Service documentary Truth and the Commonwealth (15 April 2018). His reporting and imagery have also been credited in international defence coverage including The War Zone and Army Recognition.

“If your phone, your laptop and your notes can be searched or seized without explicit protection for journalistic material, that raises serious constitutional concerns,” he said. “Investigative journalism depends on people being able to speak confidentially.”
The Guardian · Natricia Duncan · Outcry in Trinidad and Tobago after passing of police bill that could threaten press freedom ·
“The government doesn’t want to vocally announce its actual support for regime change in Venezuela,” said Pearce Robinson, a Trinidadian independent journalist and activist who first posted the images of the radar. “Everything the government has done thus far points to that, quite frankly.”
The New York Times · Frances Robles · Trinidad Has Become a U.S. Staging Ground in Its Conflict With Venezuela ·
Full press record