Digs out exclusive news items (6)
I believe the answer is:
scoops
'digs' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'exclusive news items' is the wordplay.
'exclusive' becomes 'scoop' (as in a newspaper scoop).
'news items' becomes 's' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'scoop'+'s'='SCOOPS'
'out' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scoops that I've seen before include "First news discoveries - journalists seek them" , "'Stories obtained, by a newspaper say, before others (6)'" , "Exclusive news stories" , "News items published by paper before others" , "Shovel-like utensils" .)