Why Expertise Alone Isn’t Enough to Earn You Media Coverage

I hear it all the time. “I’m a doctor and want PR. But I want PR only about doing surgery, because I am a surgeon.”

Alas, that’s not exactly how media relations works.

I know that can sting, and I get it. After all, most experts I talk to have so many opportunities to get featured in the media. Reporters, podcast hosts and editors are looking for credible voices all the time, and an expert with years of hands-on experience is exactly who they want. 

So why do so many experts send pitch after pitch and get little or nothing back?

As a longtime publicist and the host of the Grow Your Wellth podcast, I see this from both sides. I receive guest pitches regularly, and they often open with the expert’s credentials: where they trained, what they are certified in, how long they have been in practice. What they less often pitch me is what the episode would be about or what problem my listeners would walk away solving. And I’m left trying to figure out where to place them — or worse — just unable to respond.

Why? Because even when it’s impressive, a resume alone does not make for good programming.

Many experts lead with the job they do every day, because that’s where their credibility lies. But if you want to see more recognition as an expert, that comes from building your visibility around a problem you solve or a unique perspective you bring, not just around your title. I want to show you what that looks like and why it works.

Why talking about your work is not the same as being newsworthy

Think about how an editor decides what to cover. They are not asking what you do. They are asking what their reader is struggling with or wants and who can help explain it.

Your daily work is a solution. The problem behind it is the story. Editors write about problems and how to solve them, and they do it more now than ever because readers arrive through search. People type what they are feeling or worried about, and the coverage that earns their attention is the coverage that meets them there.

The same is true when someone asks an AI tool for help. According to OpenAI, more than 300 million questions are asked in ChatGPT every week about health and wellness. Users describe a problem, and the experts who have built their presence around that problem are the ones that surface.

So, if you are getting into PR just to talk about yourself, you are missing a huge visibility opportunity.

Believe it or not, there are nearly a dozen types of media coverage. They include dedicated features, expert commentary, trend-driven coverage and podcasts, among others. Almost everyone wants the dedicated feature, which is the story built around you. But there are far fewer of those opportunities to begin with.

The other types are not consolation prizes. They are how you build the authority that makes a feature possible in the first place.

The surgeons who meet the moment

L&P Aesthetics in Palo Alto is led by two dual board-certified facial plastic surgeons. Like most physicians we work with at FACTEUR PR, they are most excited about discussing what they do each day, which is facial plastic surgery. It is technical, it is fascinating, and they are very good at it.

However, if you ask them or their patients, you’ll find that the problem they solve is bigger than any one procedure; it’s about helping renew their patients’ sense of identity. 

That journey happens well before the patient is on the operating table. It may begin with the moment when they look in the mirror and do not quite recognize the person looking back. Maybe it starts with their skin, their eyes, their smile or their hair. In other words, their patients don’t just seek a snatched jawline — they want to feel like themselves again (maybe even better!).

That is the problem these doctors solve for.

How authority mapping keeps the conversation honest

To keep that focus, we mapped their authority across five tiers, moving from the broadest conversation to the most personal one. Most media stories in health, wellness and aesthetics happen in the first three layers because that is most searchable and what readers want.

The first layer starts with problem awareness — it’s the universal conversation about why skin, hair and the face age, and what science actually supports. From there, the layers get deeper, going from problem aware to solution aware, and finally landing at the company as the go-to solution. 

This approach has earned L&P Aesthetics expert commentary published in Vogue and ELLE, and yes, dedicated features in People, The Daily Beast, USA Today … and counting. The mix matters. Authority is not built with one medium. It is generated across them. 

How to find the problem you solve

You do not need a new brand to start. Try finishing this sentence: I help [this type of person] who are struggling with [this type of problem] so they can [achieve, feel, or do something they couldn’t before]. If you fill in the blanks with your title or your service, go back and name the feeling or the problem instead. 

Then ask yourself three questions. What conversation is already happening around this problem? Where do I have a perspective most people covering it do not? And what are the five topics an editor in my field could cover this month where I could truly help their reader?

Remember, your credentials still matter. They are the proof behind your point of view! But they are not the headline. Build around the problem, join the conversation first, and the coverage you expected from the beginning becomes far more likely to show up and be sought after.

I hear it all the time. “I’m a doctor and want PR. But I want PR only about doing surgery, because I am a surgeon.”

Alas, that’s not exactly how media relations works.

I know that can sting, and I get it. After all, most experts I talk to have so many opportunities to get featured in the media. Reporters, podcast hosts and editors are looking for credible voices all the time, and an expert with years of hands-on experience is exactly who they want.