Starts anchoring a negative news shortly (4)
I believe the answer is:
anon
'shortly' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'starts anchoring a negative' is the wordplay.
'starts' suggests taking the first letters.
'a negative' becomes 'non' (I have seen 'French negative ' mean 'non' so perhaps 'negative' could also mean 'non').
The first letter of 'anchoring' is 'a'.
'a'+'non'='ANON'
'news' acts as a link.
This may not be right. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for anon that I've seen before include "In a little while (informal)" , "prolific author" , "At another time, of old" , "Of unknown authorship" , "Soon; unattributed" .)