News hack on dark sweet ale (8)
I believe the answer is:
reporter
'news hack' is the definition.
'reporter' can be an answer for 'hack' (informal term for a journalist). I'm unsure of the 'news' bit.
'on dark sweet ale' is the wordplay.
'on' becomes 're' ('on' can be mean 'with reference to').
'dark sweet ale' becomes 'porter' (I've seen this before).
're'+'porter'='REPORTER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for reporter that I've seen before include "One writes or tells the news" , "Newspaperman" , "News gatherer" , "Newshound" , "He gives details" .)