Development favouring Government journalists initially withheld (8)
I believe the answer is:
progress
'development' is the definition.
(I know that progress is a type of development)
'favouring government journalists initially withheld' is the wordplay.
'favouring' becomes 'pro' (I've seen this before).
'government' becomes 'g' (abbreviation for government).
'journalists' becomes 'press' (the press can mean the newspaper industry).
'initially withheld' means to remove the first letter (the initial is removed or withheld).
'press' with its first letter taken away is 'ress'.
'pro'+'g'+'ress'='PROGRESS'
(Other definitions for progress that I've seen before include "Relating to verse" , "Go on - journey" , "Advance - movement" , "Satisfactory development" , "Forward movement towards a destination or goal" .)