I wouldn't. Newspaper turns into a big soggy mess when rats are peeing and pooping on it. Stinky, soggy, gross.

Just look around your town/city for a good source of kiln dried/low dust pine bedding. Check places like farm supply stores, major department stores, pet stores (though they are often the most expensive but you never know).

As far as food you want to be feeding a good quality rodent lab block. I like to mix my lab block with some other stuff like dry cereal (just whatevers left in my cupboards), old fashioned large oatmeal (uncooked), sometime seed (just wild bird seed and the like). Basically my rats get the lab block as their main source of food and the other stuff just as treats and to give them something different to chew on once in awhile.