I don't know if the included newspaper is required later in the game or if it is just added as a cool addition but it's completely useless since the resolution in which it was converted to .pdf makes most of it unreadable, even whilst zoomed.

Any chance GOG.com can find a higher quality version and bundle that with the game?

Still the case in 2021. I'm a bit disappointed.

The MISC download found in a popular abandonware site has a much better scan.

The newspaper is not strictly required to finish the game. It does not contain copy-protection or anything like that (that's a separate booklet and not required for this version of the game). However the newspaper contains a ton of subtle puzzle hints which can help figuring out what to do. It's worth reading over it a few times, especially when getting stuck. Note that it does not contain any spoilers, the hints are all pretty cleverly hidden in the articles and it's generally not obvious where or how to use them until you actual get to that specific puzzle.

archive.org and numerous fan sites have have a proper readable copy of the newspaper.