Writer elected to cover mad cow disease (5)
I believe the answer is:
ibsen
'writer' is the definition.
(Ibsen is an example)
'elected to cover mad cow disease' is the wordplay.
'elected' becomes 'in'.
'to cover' is an insertion indicator.
'mad cow disease' becomes 'bse' (I've seen this before).
'in' placed around 'bse' is 'IBSEN'.
(Other definitions for ibsen that I've seen before include "Scandinavian playwright" , "famous Norwegian" , "Norwegian dramatist of 'Hedda Gabler'" , "Norwegian author of 'Peer Gynt' etc" , "'Ghosts' writer" .)