I don't see why this change is a bad thing for a few reasons:
1) A lot of people (at least that I know) have a very good friend and confidant of the opposite gender that does not descend into a sexual relationship. If you think its strange for two adults, a man and woman, to hang out in a bar after work and talk about their lives, relationships, and sex without being in a sexual relationship themselves than I suggest you stop watching crap films like "Friends with Benefits".
2) You'll also notice that there is no Cat Grant listed at IMDB and she's been a huge part of the Superman supporting cast for decades as well as in tv adaptations. This is a good thing though. Rather than introduce too many characters into an origin film, which we all hate and slows down the plot, wouldn't it be perfect to combine some characters into a new one? Thus we get Jenny Olsen, who instead of being a photographer can fill the Cat Grant role on the Social Desk with Jenny and Lois having a friendly rivalry due to their differing opinion of news/reporting and both being considered the best in their fields. That tension and teasing, I thought, was one of the better points of the Lois and Clark series because it introduced a competition not just between Lois and Clark in the first season but gave Lois a female rival. Yes, that Cat Grant was attracted to Clark and tried to seduce him in the early episodes, but that element is not necessary to have a healthy professional rivalry between Lois and Jenny while still allowing them to be friends.
3) Without Jimmy Olsen the new film can increase the role and support of Steve Lombard within the Daily Planet and to Clark. Its not known yet if Clark will be portrayed as "meek and mild" or will have a more outgoing personality (similar to the way Dean Cain played the character and Tom Welling did till season 10 of Smallville) and if the later (outgoing) is the direction of the film than Steve would be a perfect friend for Clark. Tweak his character a bit to not make him the extremely annoying, stereotypical ex-jock and you have the perfect guy friend and drinking buddy for Clark.
4) Part of Superman's character is the idea of balance. Balancing being Clark Kent and being Kal-El/Superman. Balancing embracing his human upbringing with his Kryptonian heritage. Balancing wielding great power while working within the confines of Earth's laws. If we look at the IMDB credits some more we see a balance of male and female in various parts of Clark's life. Jor-El with Lara -> Jonathan with Martha and Whitney (vice Pete) with Lana -> Perry and Steve with Lois and Jenny -> Zod with Faora. So by replacing Jimmy with Jenny the Snyder-Nolan team are able to move a concept of balance through more aspects of the film than just Clark's character.
So long as the film doesn't use this new character to create the overused "one woman loves Superman and one woman loves Clark Kent" I see only positives in this change but at the end of the day its going to come down to the performance of the actress (who from her IMDB page does not have an long background in acting) and her chemistry with the others.
I will also be disappointed if they go the way of Smallville and have Jenny die simply to introduce her younger sibling Jimmy who goes to work at the Daily Planet at the end of the film. It was a horrible move in Smallville because it ruined the great impact that death generated simply to maintain the comic book status quo. Let's hope Snyder and Nolan don't pull the same crap.
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