Sophia Smith Galer

Sophia Smith Galer FRSA (born 1 June 1994) is a British digital journalist, author, and TikTok influencer. In 2022, she was named as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 for Marketing and Media in Europe, and short-listed on British Vogue's list of Top 25 Most Influential Women in the UK.

Early life and education
Smith Galer was born to an English father and a mother of Italian origin. She grew up singing in St Peter's Italian Church in Clerkenwell. She went to St Mary's College at Durham University where she graduated with a degree in Spanish and Arabic in 2016 before studying for a Master's in Broadcast Journalism at City, University of London.

Career
Smith Galer began her journalism career in May 2017 as a social media producer for BBC.com, and later became a visual journalist covering faith and ethics at BBC World Service.

In 2019, she started posting to short-form video-sharing app TikTok, becoming one of the first BBC journalists to do so, despite her employers not agreeing with her posting journalism content. She uses the platform to takes parts in trends, receive and gather news, and post explainer content, covering gender, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and digital culture.

In March 2021, Smith Galer posted an informative original sea shanty explaining how a container ship obstructed the Suez Canal, which went viral, amassing one million views in over eight hours.

In June 2021, it was announced that she was leaving the BBC. Three months later, she joined VICE World News as a Senior News Reporter. She stayed in the role for two years until her departure in September 2023, becoming a freelance journalist.

Chris Stokel-Walker of The Observer named her as one "of the biggest ex-BBC names" on the platform. Matthew Leake from The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism described her as "an authority on how journalists and news organisations can use TikTok to research stories, reach younger audiences and build relationships." Academic research identified Smith Galer's work exhibits intellectual virtues such as autonomy, carefulness, curiosity and thoroughness, and adapts journalistic information to TikTok to appeal to younger generations.

In February 2023, Smith Galer joined Brown University's Information Futures Lab as one of their inaugural fellows to address information disorders and digital literacy. In 2024, she co-hosted the BBC World Service podcast Where To Be A Woman with Scaachi Koul, which interrogated "what it really means for women to live their best lives around the world."

Books

 * Losing It: Sex Education for the 21st Century, 2022. ISBN 9780008475581

Awards and recognition

 * TikTok
 * Voices of Change (2020) – TikTok 100


 * British Journalism Awards
 * Innovation of the Year (2021) – TikTok Usage


 * Forbes
 * 30 Under 30 (2022) – Media and Marketing in Europe


 * British Vogue
 * One of the UK's Top 25 Most Influential Women (2022)