Steel, say, was shown by artist beset by defamation (7)
I believe the answer is:
liberal
'steel say was shown' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'artist beset by defamation' is the wordplay.
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'beset by' is an insertion indicator ('beset' could historically mean 'cover').
'defamation' becomes 'libel' (libel is a kind of defamation).
'ra' put within 'libel' is 'LIBERAL'.
'by' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for liberal that I've seen before include "Braille (anag.)" , "Large-minded" , "Tolerant and open-minded in Braille" , "Respectful of opinions different from one's own" , "Politically progressive" .)