Mediabistro

My company set me up to take an 8 week only search marketing course and it was a complete waste of money and time! The teacher never once gave any feedback, grades, nothing! The customer service was horrendous when I complained about the lack of service. PLEASE don’t waste your money on them!

I bought a job pack from Mediabistro last year for 3 postings. Not sure exactly what it cost, but something like $ 800. For that amount, I would expect better results. I hardly got any applicants, and the ones I did, didn’t even meet the criteria specified.
I know Mediabistro can’t control who applies, but I would think they’d do a better idea of promoting posts or driving traffic to their website.
Basically a waste of time and $$. Just stalk people on Linkedin and reach out like I do. You’ll save yourself a lot of money and disappointment.
I feel like Mediabistro used to be a good place to look for jobs but it seems their heyday is over!
Meh!

I took the TV News Reporting course in the winter of 2014 and I had a very bad experience. They tell you in the course description that you will do two taped performances for a demo reel, but in reality none of the clips we produced in the course are presentable for any professional purpose. The professor instructed us to do a pretend news story filmed in Mediabistro’s offices. I have no idea why they would send a professional cameraman to tape something like that. There are so many other more useful things you could do. Better keep the $ 600 course fee in your pocket, do some research and get out there. What also bothered me about this course was the fact that the professor kept pitching us her «Reel Reporting,» program, which of course costs more money and apparently produces serious demo reels for aspiring TV journalists, as opposed to the not serious ones done in this class. The whole thing seemed like a bait-​and-​switch. To top it off, the professor emailed us the instructions for our final on-​camera performance on the Sunday afternoon prior to the Monday night class, which left basically no time to prepare, unless you had absolutely nothing else to do.
I asked for a refund and got rebuffed by Mediabistro. I don’t think this reflects very well on the professionalism of their «education» offerings. I will never take a course with them again.

I’ve only used MediaBistro to apply for positions and it is the ideal place to see open positions in media– PR, marketing, publishing, etc. Sadly I think that’s the only thing it is good for– seeing what’s open. Out of the hundred+ positions I’ve applied for via their website only one has actually responded. On the other hand I’ve received responses when seeing it on MediaBistro then going through another source to apply. I do notice they are always holding some sort of training or workshop. However given the type of results I’ve seen going through their site, I’m really not going to spend money with them. It’s a great website for seeing great positions but horrible for actually getting results.

I took an 8-​week Copywriting for Advertising workshop here last summer and found it to be highly engaging and well taught. I truly learned a lot about what really constitutes interesting and original advertising. The course covered the full gamut of copywriting from print ads, catalogs, brochures, web-​based, direct mail, television (commercial script), and more.
The instructor was very professional and insightful (and obviously an experienced copywriter in her own right), and the intimate class size really enabled students to express their voice and share their assignments without limitations or time constraints.
I would definitely consider taking other workshops through MediaBistro again.

is geared towards those who work in publishing, new media, graphic design, and for those who are full time or freelance in the creative marketplace. I work in publishing and have taken a few online and classroom courses and seminars to brush up on my editing skills. The courses are taught by other veteran professionals and are worth the time and effort. If you become an AvantGuild member ($ 55/​yr) your benefits include class discounts (a pretty decent one at that), access to the Freelance Marketplace, job postings, resume help, a masthead database, and a slew of other discounts ranging from Nexis membership to car rentals. This is a great local resource for media professionals.

This is the ideal place to channel that inner Amanda Hesser meets Woodward and Bernstein meets Devil Wears Prada meets Hemingway in you. The small classes are taught seriously but informally on a range of writing topics from food writing and travel writing, to autobiography, Young Adult, even Chic lit. The long format creative writing and journalism courses range from 6 – 12 weeks and they also offer evening and weekend seminars. The classes are usually in the evening at their SoHo offices and they offer online classes too. Prices aren’t cheap (prices start around $ 430) and are less expensive if you become an AvantGuild member. The instructors are generally well-​known published authors in their respective fields. I have taken a series of different classes and they all have provided me with a significant start — be it an outline, first chapter, etc. Depending on the class there is a significant amount of work required to meet the writing goals but it ultimately provides structure and tools to get you thinking, writing. And hopefully on your way to getting published.