Cheat university lecturer, with journalist being forgiven (8)
I believe the answer is:
condoned
'forgiven' is the definition.
(condoning is a kind of forgiving)
'cheat university lecturer with journalist' is the wordplay.
'cheat' becomes 'con' (con is a kind of cheat).
'university lecturer' becomes 'don' (don can mean an academic - especially at Oxbridge).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'con'+'don'+'ed'='CONDONED'
'being' is the link.
(Other definitions for condoned that I've seen before include "Sanctioned" , "Excused, overlooked" .)