Able to count on new reporter and me re taking a back seat (8)
I believe the answer is:
numerate
'reporter and me re taking a back seat' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'able to count on new' is the wordplay.
'able' becomes 'ume' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to count' becomes 'rate' (I've seen this in another clue).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'ume'+'rate'='umerate'
'umerate' put after 'n' is 'NUMERATE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for numerate that I've seen before include "Able to understand numbers" , "Capable of understanding mathematics" , "Well versed in maths" , "Good at arithmetic" , "Mathematically able" .)