Papers and student journalist did nothing (5)
I believe the answer is:
idled
'did nothing' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'papers and student journalist' is the wordplay.
'papers' becomes 'ID' (identifying documents are one's 'papers').
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'student' becomes 'L' (as in L-plates for learner drivers).
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'id'+'l'+'ed'='IDLED'
(Other definitions for idled that I've seen before include "sat back" , "Loitered" , "Was lazy" , "was unoccupied" , "(Of an engine) ran slowly out of gear" .)