Document and Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Nov. 01, 2013 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Nov. 01, 2013 Class B Common Stock [Member]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2013
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	wpo
Entity Registrant Name	WASHINGTON POST CO
Entity Central Index Key	0000104889
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		1,169,073	6,214,516