Crossword Genius

Journalist holding book up, lower in rank (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

demote

'lower in rank' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'journalist holding book up' is the wordplay.
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'holding' is an insertion indicator.
'book' becomes 'tome' (a tome is a book).
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'ed' placed around 'tome' is 'etomed'.
'etomed' reversed gives 'DEMOTE'.

(Other definitions for demote that I've seen before include "Downgrade" , "Move to lower status" , "Put down in rank" , "Move down in rank" , "Reduce in status" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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