Becomes serious surrounding awkward poses by journalists? (3,7)

I believe the answer is:

sob sisters

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'journalists?' is the definition.
(sob sister is a kind of journalist)

'becomes serious surrounding awkward poses' is the wordplay.
'becomes serious' becomes 'sobers' (I've seen this in another clue).
'surrounding' is an insertion indicator.
'awkward poses' becomes 'sist' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'sobers' placed around 'sist' is 'SOB SISTERS'.

'by' acts as a link.

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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