Cleared by a certain judge given journalist’s coverage (10)
I believe the answer is:
exonerated
'cleared' is the definition.
('exonerate' can be a synonym of 'clear')
'by a certain judge given journalist's coverage' is the wordplay.
'by' becomes 'x' (n by r is n x r).
'a certain judge given' becomes 'onerate' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'coverage' is an insertion indicator.
'x'+'onerate'='xonerate'
'xonerate' inserted inside 'ed' is 'EXONERATED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for exonerated that I've seen before include "justified?" , "Acquitted" .)