The thing that took me aback in the news (4)
I believe the answer is:
item
'news' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'the thing that took me aback' is the wordplay.
'the thing' becomes 'it'.
'that took' says to put letters next to each other.
'aback' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'me' written backwards gives 'em'.
'it'+'em'='ITEM'
'in the' is the link.
(Other definitions for item that I've seen before include "Detail - entry" , "One thing - two people, perhaps" , "couple linked" , "Individual unit in a list" , "Book-keeping entry" .)