Small potatoes: journalist inebriated (7)
I believe the answer is:
smashed
'inebriated' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'small potatoes journalist' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'potatoes' becomes 'mash' (mashed potato).
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
's'+'mash'+'ed'='SMASHED'
(Other definitions for smashed that I've seen before include "Broken in pieces" , "Affected by drug" , "Broke; drunk (colloq.)" , "completely sozzled" , "Drunk (as a broken bottle?)" .)