Leading estate, this could make the papers! (6)

I believe the answer is:

fourth

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'leading estate' is the definition.
'fourth' can be an answer for 'estate' (fourth estate is a kind of estate). I am not certain of the 'leading' bit.

I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for fourth that I've seen before include "Almost winning medal?" , "Ordinal number for the press - the . . . . . . estate" , "Behind the top three" , "Placed just after the winners" , "Journalism is called the . . . . . . estate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.