Discontinued Operations (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Oct. 02, 2013 Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Daily Herald [Member]	Jul. 31, 2011 Kaplan Virtual Education [Member] Education [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Kaplan Compliance Solutions [Member] Education [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Sale of Kaplan Learning Technologies [Member] Education [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Sale of Kaplan EduNeering [Member] Education [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Sales of Kaplan EduNeering and Kaplan Learning Technologies [Member] Education [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Sale of Kidum [Member] Education [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Disposition of Avenue 100 Media Solutions Inc. [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Disposition of Avenue 100 Media Solutions Inc. [Member] Other Businesses [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Sale Of Publishing Subsidiaries [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Purchase Agreement Aggregate Purchase Price For Divestiture Of Business				$ 250,000,000
Pre-tax gain (loss) on sale and/or disposition	157,449,000	23,759,000	2,975,000		157,500,000		(100,000)			(3,100,000)	29,500,000		3,600,000		(5,700,000)
After-tax gain (loss) on sale and/or disposition					100,000,000			(1,200,000)	1,500,000
Early retirement program expense	22,700,000	8,508,000	634,000		22,700,000	8,500,000
Net curtailment and settlement gains					56,600,000
Stock compensation expense as a result of modification of stock awards and stock options																20,700,000
Tax benefit of discontinued operations	(29,059,000)	(13,668,000)	(10,934,000)									23,200,000			44,500,000
Value of subsidiary														0
Tax benefit on goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges														$ 0