Investments (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014 Minimum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Maximum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Corinthian Colleges, Inc. [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Classified Ventures LLC [Member]	Aug. 04, 2014 Classified Ventures LLC [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Classified Ventures' sale of apartments.com [Member]	Apr. 01, 2014 Classified Ventures' sale of apartments.com [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member] Berkshire Hathaway Inc [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member] Berkshire Hathaway Inc [Member] Common Class A [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member] Berkshire Hathaway Inc [Member] Common Class B [Member]
Schedule of Investments [Line Items]
Number of Berkshire Shares Exchanged														2,107	1,278
Gain on Berkshire marketable equity securities exchange	$ 266,733,000	$ 0	$ 266,733,000	$ 0									$ 266,733,000
Gain on exchange of Berkshire Hathaway shares	(2,259,000)	337,000	(3,044,000)	879,000
Impairment write-down on a marketable equity security								500,000
Proceeds from sales of marketable equity securities			5,800,000	3,600,000
(Loss) gain on sales of marketable equity securities			(2,600,000)	900,000
New investments in marketable equity securities			0	0
Investments in commercial paper	99,900,000		99,900,000
Cash distribution from equity method investment												95,000,000
Investment maturity length for commercial paper						3 months 1 day	6 months
Pre-tax gain on equity method investments	91,503,000	3,868,000	95,555,000	7,286,000							91,000,000
Percentage owned of equity method investment									16.50%
Estimated fair value of Classified Ventures										2,500,000,000
Gannett's Ownership of Classified Ventures										27.00%
Company's investments in marketable equity securities	117,536,000		117,536,000		487,156,000
Unrealized loss on investment	$ 60,569,000		$ 60,569,000		$ 289,438,000