Revenues, Depreciation/Amortization and Segment Profit by Segment (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Sep. 30, 2009	Jun. 30, 2009	Mar. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers	$ 595,300,000	$ 528,400,000	$ 565,300,000	$ 547,000,000	$ 631,100,000	$ 572,400,000	$ 580,000,000	$ 550,000,000	$ 605,000,000	$ 544,100,000	$ 544,000,000	$ 551,200,000	$ 2,235,959,000	$ 2,333,512,000	$ 2,244,248,000
Intersegment revenues													106,800,000	84,500,000	83,300,000
Depreciation/amortization													60,708,000	61,446,000	67,848,000
Segment profit													238,000,000	225,000,000	183,000,000
Shared Mail
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers													1,350,800,000	1,307,200,000	1,279,100,000
Intersegment revenues													16,800,000	16,800,000	18,600,000
Depreciation/amortization													36,800,000	41,000,000	49,200,000
Segment profit													191,900,000	156,800,000	110,200,000
Neighborhood Targeted
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers													374,700,000	479,900,000	444,700,000
Intersegment revenues													50,400,000	27,600,000	26,100,000
Depreciation/amortization													4,200,000	4,300,000	4,100,000
Segment profit													7,700,000	20,600,000	36,300,000
Free-standing Inserts
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers													316,000,000	367,600,000	361,400,000
Intersegment revenues													39,200,000	39,700,000	37,000,000
Depreciation/amortization													12,700,000	12,800,000	12,000,000
Segment profit													14,100,000	24,900,000	11,500,000
International, Digital Media & Services
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers													194,500,000	178,800,000	159,000,000
Intersegment revenues													400,000	400,000	1,600,000
Depreciation/amortization													7,000,000	3,300,000	2,500,000
Segment profit													$ 24,300,000	$ 22,700,000	$ 25,000,000