HARO for health experts: how to win journalist coverage

Journalist-request services — HARO’s successors like Connectively, plus Qwoted and Featured — let health experts win coverage by answering reporters’ questions directly. The experts who get quoted aren’t the fastest or the pushiest; they’re the ones who give a journalist an accurate, quotable, ready-to-publish answer. Here’s how to be that expert.

How do these services work?

Reporters post what they need — a quote, a data point, an expert to interview — and vetted sources respond. For health topics, journalists are specifically looking for credentialed voices: doctors, registered practitioners, scientists and specialist founders. Respond well a few times and reporters start coming back to you directly.

What does a winning response look like?

Answer the exact question in the first line, keep it to a tight, quotable paragraph or two, include your credentials and a one-line bio, and be genuinely useful rather than promotional. Speed matters — reporters work to deadline — but accuracy matters more in health, where a wrong claim gets you cut. Offer a supporting stat or a memorable analogy the journalist can lift straight into the piece.

How do you stay compliant and credible?

Only comment within your expertise and licence, avoid claims you can’t back up, and never use a query as a thinly veiled product plug. The goal is to become a trusted regular source — that reputation is worth more than any single link.