Journalist rejected current alternative (6)
I believe the answer is:
editor
'journalist' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'rejected current alternative' is the wordplay.
'rejected' is a reversal indicator.
'current' becomes 'tide' (I've seen this before**).
'alternative' becomes 'or'.
'tide' reversed gives 'edit'.
'edit'+'or'='EDITOR'
(Other definitions for editor that I've seen before include "Do tire out the newspaper head" , "Magazine head" , "One prepares a work for publication" , "Publishing head" , "One responsible for leader" .)