Leader absolutely raised journalist's plight (6)
I believe the answer is:
despot
'leader absolutely' is the definition.
(a despot may have absolute power)
'raised journalist's plight' is the wordplay.
'raised' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'plight' becomes 'spot' ('spot' can mean a bit of trouble).
'ed' back-to-front is 'de'.
'de'+'spot'='DESPOT'
(Other definitions for despot that I've seen before include "Posted by tyrant" , "Possibly 4 [CZAR]" , "Tyrant, dictator" , "One exploiting rule" , "Tyranical dictator" .)