I would use it too. I don't like postnuke or phpnuke because they aren't really that customizable.
I think this could function about the same as it currently does, with folders/albums...
You'd create a "news" album where you could add news or an article album where you could add articles, etc. For extended flexibility, you could have a special pseudo-type (an image will show) that'll allow you to link a normal album to a news album. I think only one field, which specifies the album type, would need to be added to the db for this to work.
Extending on this, you could make a "news reel" that works like the film strip. It could pull out news in a format like we commonly see on many sites.
The add/admin script could work like a wikki, so it'll be easy to use. A script like htmlarea or the one tarique made would work nicely here.
I could help code it once I'm done with the part I'm working on now, since I'd use it. Unless constraints are imposed, I think coppermine has the potential to be a better entry-level to intermediate-level cms than php/postnuke without exploding the script too much.