Shaft head of news in network (5)
I believe the answer is:
lance
'shaft' is the definition.
(I know that shaft can be written as lance)
'head of news in network' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'network' could be 'lan' (Local Area Network) and 'lan' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lance that I've seen before include "Spear carried by mounted soldier" , "Chap" , "Horseman's long weapon" , "Long-shafted weapon" , "Spear for a horse-soldier" .)