Did well to be decent about second journalist (9)
I believe the answer is:
prospered
'did well' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'decent about second journalist' is the wordplay.
'decent' becomes 'proper' (associated in meaning).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'proper' going around 's' is 'prosper'.
'prosper'+'ed'='PROSPERED'
'to be' is the link.
(Other definitions for prospered that I've seen before include "proved successful" , "Make steady progress, flourished" , "Succeeded - made good" .)