Journalist about to have a drink (8)
I believe the answer is:
reporter
'journalist' is the definition.
(eg a reporter for a newspaper)
'about to have a drink' is the wordplay.
'about' becomes 're' (regarding).
'to have' says to put letters next to each other.
'a drink' becomes 'porter' (porter is a kind of drink).
're'+'porter'='REPORTER'
(Other definitions for reporter that I've seen before include "Hack" , "News writer" , "One may write a column" , "One writes or tells the news" , "Newsman" .)