I actually liked the newspaper. I got a kick out of reading who got promoted, who died, who got married and what events were upcoming. And it was interesting when your sim got mentioned. Plus, when I needed to make friends for a promotion, my sims always went out to talk to the paper girl or boy to make friends. I wouldn't mind if they brought the newspaper feature back.
I wonder if they could make it part of a career like Journalism, where your sims articles end up in the newspaper. That would be great.