Sophia Smith Galer

Sophia Smith Galer is a journalist, author, and digital innovator credited with pioneering TikTok journalism in the UK.

Her short-form social media videos have been viewed over 180 million times and bring high-quality reporting to younger, digitally native audiences. Her work has earned international recognition, including a British Journalism Award, the Georgina Henry Prize for Digital Innovation at the Media Freedom Awards, and inclusion in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe and British Vogue’s 25 Most Influential Women in the UK in 2022.

Smith Galer began her career reporting for the BBC and VICE, covering stories spanning religion, health, and technology. Her reporting has taken her to more than fifteen countries, from training journalists in Ecuador’s most dangerous cities to speaking on sustainable development at the United Nations for Arab audiences. These experiences have shaped her ‘audience-first journalism’ approach that meets people where they are, whether in traditional media or on emerging social platforms.

Sophia Smith Galer has been fascinated by languages from an early age, and her passion continues to shape her reporting and writing. She is a contributing editor for Translator magazine and is currently working on her second book, How To Kill A Language, which examines the global phenomenon of language loss and its human impact. Inspired by her own family’s endangered heritage language, the book is set for publication in 2026 by William Collins in the UK and Crown in the US.

Beyond journalism, Smith Galer is an innovator in media technology. She runs Viralect, a consultancy and innovation hub that helps journalists and creators maximise their impact on digital platforms. She also founded Sophiana, an AI-powered tool that transforms written journalism into vertical, platform-optimised video, helping reporters extend the reach of their work while maintaining editorial integrity. Through these initiatives, she mentors other journalists and supports newsrooms in navigating social media and generative AI.