Finally, what is your main goal for this project? The modern day Hearst? If that is the case, I doubt you'll make it immediately. (more like long term growth and valuation.) or are you in it for more lofty goals, other than making money? This should drive your business plan and working solutions.
So, if you want to expand the readership base, there is a way to do it: keep it simple, honest, and (with the writers's who are professionals rather than lil' DNC robots!) with the least amount of bias possible. (This would require a couple of good editors.) This will build a strong readership base, and also sell papers/get people to pick up the paper.
If you choose to get started with rookies, keep this in mind:
Most kids going through J-school are being indoctrinated into media bias, and aren't even taught that they have the biases, and how to deal with them. I grew out of mine, and write better because of it. So, getting a mix of rookies and professionals (who could be mentors) would be sufficient, in the eventuality you expand.
Finally, the biggest driving force of a paper is integrity! If a paper isn't credible, or has a habit of printing gossip, or fabrications, then the readership will suffer, and so will cash flow (namely, advertisers!) (See the NYT as a prime example. They've lost upwards of 10% of their readership, and 10% of their advertising revenue, for a loss of 6% this quarter. Sure, they blame the advertisers and cash flow, but if the paper you're selling doesn't have the credibility, then what makes people want to read it?
Finally, (and this is a personal pet peeve!) when you are getting quotes for articles, don't publish with anonymous sources. This ruins credibility, and it gives the next person supplying information a carte blanche for the same thing.