Unlimited criticism surrounding newspaper, very sad (6)
I believe the answer is:
tragic
'very sad' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'unlimited criticism surrounding newspaper' is the wordplay.
'unlimited' means to look at the middle letters (discard the edges or 'limits' of the word).
'surrounding' indicates putting letters inside.
'newspaper' becomes 'rag' (rag is a kind of newspaper**).
The centre of 'criticism' is 'tic'.
'tic' enclosing 'rag' is 'TRAGIC'.
(Other definitions for tragic that I've seen before include "'Very, very sad (6)'" , "Terrible" , "Characterised by extreme distress or sorrow" , "Grievous" , "Calamitous, very sad" .)