Assistance rebuffed, keep record of reported conversation (8)
I believe the answer is:
dialogue
'reported conversation' is the definition.
'dialogue' can be an answer for 'conversation' (dialogue is a kind of conversation). I am not sure about the 'reported' bit.
'assistance rebuffed keep record' is the wordplay.
'assistance' becomes 'aid' (synonyms).
'rebuffed' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'keep record' becomes 'logue' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'aid' backwards is 'dia'.
'dia'+'logue'='DIALOGUE'
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dialogue that I've seen before include "Talks" , "Conversation as in a play" , "Lines spoken in films, books etc" , "The words spoken by characters in a play" , "The speech in a play" .)