Requested tidiness by journalist (7)
I believe the answer is:
ordered
'requested' is the definition.
(ordering is a kind of requesting)
'tidiness by journalist' is the wordplay.
'tidiness' becomes 'order' (I've seen this before).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'order'+'ed'='ORDERED'
(Other definitions for ordered that I've seen before include "Methodically arranged" , "Instructed" , "Issued commands" , "Demanded" , "Issued a command" .)