Spot journalist and paper giving false hope (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
pipe dream
'false hope' is the definition.
'spot journalist and paper' is the wordplay.
'spot' becomes 'pip' (I've seen this before).
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'paper' becomes 'ream' (I've seen this before).
'pip'+'ed'+'ream'='PIPE-DREAM'
'giving' is the link.
(Other definitions for pipe dream that I've seen before include "castle in Spain?" , ""Pie in the sky"" , "Unrealistic aspiration" , "Unrealistic hope" , "Fantastic notion!" .)