Furtive and timid holding Independent newspaper (6)
I believe the answer is:
shifty
'furtive' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'timid holding independent newspaper' is the wordplay.
'timid' becomes 'shy' ('shy' can be similar in meaning to 'timid').
'holding' indicates putting letters inside.
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'newspaper' becomes 'ft'.
'i'+'ft'='ift'
'shy' placed around 'ift' is 'SHIFTY'.
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for shifty that I've seen before include "Sneaky and sly" , "Constantly changing; deceitful, evasive" , "Shady, dubious" , "Sly, shady" , "Evasive, not straightforward in manner" .)