Gets close attention in new society (5)
I believe the answer is:
nears
'gets close' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'attention in new society' is the wordplay.
'attention' becomes 'ear' (having someone's ear is having their attention).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'society' becomes 's' (common abbreviation in names of organisations).
'n'+'s'='ns'
'ear' put within 'ns' is 'NEARS'.
(Other definitions for nears that I've seen before include "advances" , "Draws closer to" , "Draws close" , "Saner (anag.)" , "Moves closer to" .)