Reporters with leads to investigate may strike (7)
I believe the answer is:
impress
'strike' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'reporters with leads to investigate may' is the wordplay.
'reporters' becomes 'press' (journalists, members of the press).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'leads to' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'investigate may' is 'im'.
'press' after 'im' is 'IMPRESS'.
(Other definitions for impress that I've seen before include "Affect deeply" , "Produce a strong, lasting impression on" , "Influence - conscript - stamp" , "Leave a mark or stamp" , "Make mark or pattern by applying pressure" .)