NEED returns: Nine months after its northeast Minneapolis offices were burglarized, the humanitarian magazine NEED has come out with its fifth edition. The glossy magazine was named “One of the hottest Launches of 2007.”

Media Matters on Strib: Last Thursday, Star Tribune editor Nancy Barnes asked “all columnists to refrain from partisan political commentary in their columns on the news pages, at least until after the election.” The news raised the eyebrows of Media Matters’ Eric Boehlert who notes that the decree came a day after columnist Katherine Kersten attacked Democrat Al Franken as being anti-Catholic. Boehlert goes on to point out other inconsistencies at the paper: its glowing front-page story about GOP operative and Coleman confidante/landlord Jeff Larson (“the ‘Clark Kent’ behind Palin’s wardrobe,” according to the paper’s headline) followed by its endorsement of Coleman, to name one.

Circ sinks: The Star Tribune is among papers that saw circulation drop in September. Audit Bureau of Circulations reported that its 507 papers saw a 4.6 percent dip. Strib daily editions were down 4.26 percent, while its Sunday edition dropped 8.63 percent. One bright spot: the Pioneer Press has reportedly seen “small gains” in Sunday circulation.

National props for MN student journalist: Eric Sheforgen, former editor of the St. Francis (Minn.) High School newspaper and now a student at St. Olaf, won the 2007 Courage in Student Journalism Award. In January, he published a photo from a school play simulating the ripping of an American flag, prompting a showdown with the school’s principal who banned the image.

NEED wins big: On the first anniversary of its inaugural issue, NEED magazine picked up big honors at the Minnesota Magazine & Publishers Association awards ceremony on Thursday. In addition to a Gold Overall Excellence Award for special interest magazines with circulation below 60,000, it took home golds for Best Use of Photography/Visuals and Best Overall Design. Download a pdf of all winners.

Headline check: Local media watchers are keeping tabs on Star Tribune headlines. Rob Levine points out a story about how “over the past 45 months, Minnesota’s year-over-year job growth has been slower than the national average nearly 90 percent of the time.” The headline could’ve been as straight as: “Minnesota trails national job growth for years.” Instead, they went with a more “opaque” choice: “Salad days of Minnesota job growth have run course.” And Liberal Media Elite points out this bit of opinion: “3 leading Republicans take tough stance on terrorism, torture.”

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