Capital Stock, Stock Awards, and Stock Options (Earnings Per Share) (Details 5) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Net income attributable to Graham Holdings Company common stockholders	$ 67,079	$ 352,075	$ 300,365
Less: Dividends paid–common stock outstanding and unvested restricted shares	(30,712)	(30,136)	(29,970)
Undistributed earnings	$ 36,367	$ 321,939	$ 270,395
Percent allocated to common stockholders	99.43%	99.36%	99.45%
Undistributed earnings allocated to common stockholders	$ 36,160	$ 319,867	$ 268,917
Add: Dividends paid–common stock outstanding	30,540	29,946	29,812
Numerator for basic earnings per share	66,700	349,813	298,729
Add: Additional undistributed earnings due to dilutive stock options	0	5	4
Numerator for diluted earnings per share	$ 66,700	$ 349,818	$ 298,733
Weighted average shares outstanding (shares)	4,823	4,951	5,124
Denominator for diluted earnings per share (shares)	4,836	4,965	5,139
Graham Holdings Company Common Stockholders:
Basic net income per common share (in USD per share)	$ 13.83	$ 70.65	$ 58.30
Earnings Per Share, Diluted (in usd per share)	$ 13.79	$ 70.45	$ 58.13
Stock Option Plan [Member]
Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Add: Effect of dilutive stock options (shares)	13	14	15