Nothing took effect in late news report (4)
I believe the answer is:
obit
'late news report' is the definition.
(obituary, report about a 'late' person)
'nothing took effect' is the wordplay.
'nothing' becomes 'O' (O resembles 0).
'took effect' becomes 'bit' (bite can mean to have an effect).
'o'+'bit'='OBIT'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for obit that I've seen before include "Death notice in paper" , "Short biography of someone who has died (abbr)" , "tribute" , "Short version of brief article written about dead person" , "funeral service" .)