Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 57,714	$ 92,918
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	(7,474)
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 57,714	$ 85,444
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - basic	215,305	219,286
Effect of dilutive securities:
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - diluted	217,569	223,254
Earnings from continuing operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.27	$ 0.42
Loss from discontinued operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	0.00	(0.03)
Net income per share – basic (In dollars per share)	0.27	0.39
Earnings from continuing operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	0.27	0.42
Loss from discontinued operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	0.00	(0.04)
Net income per share – diluted (In dollars per share)	$ 0.27	$ 0.38
Restricted stock units
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities (in shares)	992	1,295
Performance share units
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities (in shares)	541	1,673
Stock options
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities (in shares)	731	1,000