Embarrassed by pretence adopted by a newspaperman (7)
I believe the answer is:
ashamed
'embarrassed' is the definition.
('ashamed' can be similar in meaning to 'embarrassed')
'pretence adopted by a newspaperman' is the wordplay.
'pretence' becomes 'sham' (I've seen this before).
'adopted by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (I've seen this in other clues).
'newspaperman' becomes 'ed'.
'a'+'ed'='aed'
'sham' put inside 'aed' is 'ASHAMED'.
'by' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ashamed that I've seen before include "Discomfited" , "Abashed - embarrassed" , "Disconcerted with embarrassment" , "Overcome by remorse or guilt" , "hanging his head" .)