Speak fondly of exclusive story being uncovered (3)
I believe the answer is:
coo
'speak fondly' is the definition.
(to coo is to speak fondly about someone)
'exclusive story being uncovered' is the wordplay.
'exclusive story' becomes 'scoop' (I've seen this before).
'being uncovered' indicates the central letters.
The centre of 'scoop' is 'COO'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for coo that I've seen before include "Speak fondly" , "Murmur of a dove" , "Sound made by a pigeon" , "Dove's call" , "Dove-like noise" .)