It's a bit of news to me, chaps! (3)
I believe the answer is:
men
'chaps' is the definition.
(chap means a man)
'it's a bit of news to me' is the wordplay.
'it's a bit of' says to take the initial letters.
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
The initial letter of 'news' is 'n'.
'n' after 'me' is 'MEN'.
(Other definitions for men that I've seen before include "Fellows, chaps" , "Human males" , "Soldiers" , "Adult males" , "- - -o'-war (ships)" .)