Society journal a big hit (4)
I believe the answer is:
slog
'a big hit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'society journal' is the wordplay.
'society' becomes 's' (common abbreviation in names of organisations).
'journal' becomes 'log' (I've seen this in another clue).
's'+'log'='SLOG'
(Other definitions for slog that I've seen before include "Wild cricket hit" , "Very tiring work" , "Hit out without style" , "Make a wild cricket stroke" , "big hit" .)