Pension and Postretirement Plans (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Oct. 01, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Feb. 28, 2013	Mar. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense	$ 8,374,000	$ 22,700,000	$ 8,508,000
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit) for the Year	(69,406,000)	1,927,000	16,044,000
Expense associated with the retirement benefits provided under incentive savings plans	9,200,000	8,700,000	12,200,000
Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense	8,374,000	22,700,000	8,508,000
Accumulated benefit obligation	1,281,500,000	1,091,100,000								1,281,500,000
Company contributions	0	0	0
Estimated employer contributions in next fiscal year	0
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit) for the Year	(69,406,000)	1,927,000	16,044,000
Number of investment companies actively managing plan assets	2									2
Amount of plan assets managed internally by the company	0
Percentage of total plan assets	100.00%	100.00%								100.00%
Curtailment	0	43,930,000	0
Pension Plans [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit) for the Year	200,000	18,900,000	24,600,000
Pension Plans [Member] | Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Pension plan assets transferred from plan				318,000,000
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense	2,422,000	0	0
Accumulated benefit obligation	114,100,000	89,300,000								114,100,000
Company contributions	4,166,000	4,101,000
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit) for the Year	7,481,000	8,296,000	7,595,000
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit) for the Year	200,000	1,000,000	900,000
Other Postretirement Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Company contributions	4,521,000	3,671,000
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit) for the Year	89,000	(2,052,000)	(1,238,000)
Curtailment	1,292,000	41,623,000	(438,000)
Discount rate to determine benefit obligation	3.25%	3.80%								3.25%
Discount rate to determine periodic cost	3.80%	3.30%	3.90%
Other Postretirement Plans [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit) for the Year		(2,900,000)	(2,900,000)
Other Postretirement Plans [Member] | Pre-Age 65 [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Assumed health care cost trend rate	7.50%
Direction of change for assumed health care cost trend rate	decreasing
Ultimate health care cost trend rate	5.00%
Year that rate reaches ultimate trend rate	2025									2025
Other Postretirement Plans [Member] | Post-Age 65 MA-PD Plan [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Assumed health care cost trend rate	14.90%
Direction of change for assumed health care cost trend rate	decreasing
Ultimate health care cost trend rate	5.00%
Year that rate reaches ultimate trend rate	2021									2021
Other Postretirement Plans [Member] | Post-Age 65 Non MA-PD Plan [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Assumed health care cost trend rate	6.50%
Direction of change for assumed health care cost trend rate	decreasing
Ultimate health care cost trend rate	5.00%
Year that rate reaches ultimate trend rate	2021									2021
Other Postretirement Plans [Member] | Washington Post Newspaper [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Curtailment			400,000
Other Postretirement Plans [Member] | Daily Herald [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Curtailment gain		(3,500,000)
Multiemployer Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of multiemployer plans contributed to	1
Contributions to multiemployer pension plans	100,000	100,000	200,000
Multiemployer Pension Plans [Member] | Daily Herald [Member] | GCIU Employer's Trust Fund [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Multiemployer pension plan withdrawal charge			900,000
Multiemployer Pension Plans [Member] | Daily Herald [Member] | Western Conference Teamsters Pension Trust Fund [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Multiemployer pension plan withdrawal charge					400,000
Berkshire Hathaway Common Stock [Member] | Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, singular equity security, without prior approval by plan administrator	20.00%
Foreign Investments [Member] | Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, equity securities	24.00%
Single Equity Concentration [Member] | Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, singular equity security, without prior approval by plan administrator	10.00%
Number of investments the company's pension plan held which individually exceed 10% of total plan assets	2	1								2
Value of investments	730,600,000	382,100,000								730,600,000
Percentage of total plan assets	30.00%	16.00%								30.00%
Fixed income securities [Member] | Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plan, target allocation percentage of assets, fixed-income securities, range minimum	10.00%
Geographic Concentration [Member] | Foreign Investments [Member] | Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of foreign countries for which the companys pension plan holds investments that exceed 10% of total plan assets	1	1								1
Value of investments	468,000,000	398,900,000								468,000,000
Percentage of total plan assets	19.00%	17.00%								19.00%
Defined Benefit Plan Assets Total [Member] | Concentration In Single Entity, Type Of Industry, Foreign Country Or Individual Fund [Member] | Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Minimum percentage of plan assets considered as significant concentrations in pension plans	10.00%
Special Separation Benefits [Member] | Pension Plans [Member] | Washington Post Newspaper [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense						2,300,000
Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member] | Pension Plans [Member] | Washington Post Newspaper [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense			7,500,000				20,400,000
Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member] | Pension Plans [Member] | Post-Newsweek Media [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense			1,000,000
Corporate Office [Member] | Separation Incentive Program [Member] | Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense								4,500,000
Corporate Office [Member] | Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member] | Pension Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense									3,900,000
Corporate Office [Member] | Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member] | Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense									2,400,000
Corporate Office [Member] | Exchange of WPLG, Separation Incentive Program and VRIP [Member] | Other Postretirement Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Curtailment										$ 1,300,000