Alienated journalist imbibing rum (9)
I believe the answer is:
estranged
'alienated' is the definition.
(I know that alienated can be written as estranged)
'journalist imbibing rum' is the wordplay.
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'imbibing' is an insertion indicator (imbibe can mean to drink or absorb).
'rum' becomes 'strange' (similar in meaning).
'ed' going around 'strange' is 'ESTRANGED'.
(Other definitions for estranged that I've seen before include "Having become unfriendly or alienated" , "Split" , "A nerd gets (anag) - separated" , "no longer friendly" , "Alienated, disaffected" .)