Answer:
Yes, the newspaper became a source of social reform during the British period.
Step-by-step explanation:
The "newspaper" played a vital role in the lives of the British people, specifically during the 17th century towards to 20th century. People were very interested in reading the news since many of them were educated and wealthy during those times.
The newspaper acted as a social reform with many information and rumors about the government practices in order to provide awareness to people. This resulted to a more controlled publication.
Some news were being published through illegal means just to get an interesting story and to obtain more readers. One of these included the "phone hacking" scandal which led to the newspaper decline in the 21st century.