Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 28, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 28, 2015
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 99,451	$ 38,532	$ 192,369	$ 107,944
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	77,337	(7,474)	120,818
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 99,451	$ 115,869	$ 184,895	$ 228,762
Basic shares	216,518	226,538	217,902	226,814
Effect of dilutive securities:
Diluted shares	220,204	231,920	221,729	231,927
Earnings from continuing operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.46	$ 0.17	$ 0.88	$ 0.48
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.34	(0.03)	0.53
Net income per share – basic (In dollars per share)	0.46	0.51	0.85	1.01
Earnings from continuing operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	0.45	0.17	0.87	0.47
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.33	(0.03)	0.52
Net income per share – diluted (In dollars per share)	$ 0.45	$ 0.50	$ 0.84	$ 0.99
Restricted stock
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities (in shares)	1,684	2,349	1,678	2,308
Performance share units
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities (in shares)	1,078	2,208	1,186	1,951
Stock options
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities (in shares)	924	825	963	854