Document and Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Oct. 31, 2014 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Oct. 31, 2014 Class B Common Stock [Member]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2014
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2014
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	ghc
Entity Registrant Name	GRAHAM HOLDINGS CO
Entity Central Index Key	0000104889
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		997,023	4,796,637