Steve Ayorinde

Steve Ayorinde has more than 30 years’ experience in the Nigerian media industry as an award-winning journalist, editor and publisher with a special interest in culture & the film industry.

He is a former Editor of The Punch, Nigeria's largest-selling national daily and was Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of National Mirror newspapers.

He served as a Commissioner in Lagos State between 2015 & 2019, first in the Ministry of Information & Strategy and later in the Ministry of Tourism Arts & Culture.

A product of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and University of Leicester, United Kingdom, he was also a European Union Fellow at the Foundation, Journalists-in-Europe, Paris (1997/98 set), a comprehensive one-year training for mid-career journalists.

He is also an alumnus of the State Department's International Visitors Program (IVP) to the United States.

Steve is a foundation jury member of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) and a member of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) through which he has served on several international film festival juries like Cannes, Berlin, Mumbai, Stockholm, Taormina, Cairo and Luxor film festivals.

He is the author of Masterpieces: A Critic's Timeless Reports (Spectrum Books, 2008); Abokede: The Man, The Hill, The City (ArtPillar Books, 2011) and Cascade of Change: A Decade of Liberal Thoughts (Liberal Publishing, 2016).

Steve is the CEO of Patrons Media, publishers of The Culture Newspaper. He is also a TV Anchor and Analyst on AriseNews channel in Lagos, Nigeria.