A rise? No! (Sadly that describes the first element of crossword setting) (8)
I believe the answer is:
scenario
'a rise? no' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'sadly that describes the first element of crossword setting' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'first' could be 'i' (I in Roman numerals eg Elizabeth I) and 'i' is found in the answer.
'element' could be 'sc' (Sc is an example) and 'sc' is found within the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scenario that I've seen before include "plotting for a film" , "Written outline of a film, novel, or stage work" , "Projected sequence" , "In plot of movie, for instance" , "Outline or synopsis of a play" .)