Time oil worker and journalist set off (9)
I believe the answer is:
triggered
'set off' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'time oil worker and journalist' is the wordplay.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'oil worker' becomes 'rigger' (I've seen this before).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
't'+'rigger'+'ed'='TRIGGERED'
(Other definitions for triggered that I've seen before include "gets fired" , "were let off" , "Set off" , "Caused (something) to happen" .)