Was there when the news is on and occasionally expressed dread (8)
I believe the answer is:
attended
'was there' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'when the news is on and occasionally expressed dread' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'when' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'on' could be 'at' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'at' is present in the answer.
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for attended that I've seen before include "Paid heed" , "'Went to, was present at (8)'" , "Was present at or waited upon" .)