SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 28, 2014 item	Dec. 29, 2013	Dec. 30, 2012
Related Party Transaction
Number of markets	28mni_NumberOfNewspapersPublished
Number of states	14mni_NumberOfStates
Length of fiscal year	364 days	364 days	371 days
Changes in allowance for doubtful accounts
Balance at beginning of year	$ 6,040,000	$ 5,920,000	$ 7,341,000
Charged to costs and expenses	9,305,000us-gaap_ProvisionForDoubtfulAccounts	8,481,000us-gaap_ProvisionForDoubtfulAccounts	6,089,000us-gaap_ProvisionForDoubtfulAccounts
Amounts written off	(9,229,000)	(8,361,000)	(7,510,000)
Disposition of discontinued operations	(216,000)
Balance at end of year	5,900,000	6,040,000	5,920,000
Newsprint, ink and other inventories
Inventory Write-down	$ 2,000,000us-gaap_InventoryWriteDown
Career Builder LLC
Related Party Transaction
Ownership Interest (as a percent)	15.00%
Home Finder LLC
Related Party Transaction
Ownership Interest (as a percent)	33.30%

Represents the length of a fiscal years of the reporting entity.

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The number of daily newspapers published by the reporting entity.

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The number of states in which the entity has operations.

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- Definition

A valuation allowance for trade and other receivables due to an Entity within one year (or the normal operating cycle, whichever is longer) that are expected to be uncollectible.

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Amount of direct write-downs of accounts receivable charged against the allowance.

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- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

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Charge to cost of goods sold that represents the reduction of the carrying amount of inventory, generally attributable to obsolescence or market conditions.

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- Definition

Amount of expense related to write-down of receivables to the amount expected to be collected. Includes, but is not limited to, accounts receivable and notes receivable.

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Total of the deductions in a given period to allowances and reserves, the valuation and qualifying accounts that are either netted against the cost of an asset (in order to value it at its carrying value) or that reflect a liability established to represent expected future costs, representing receivables written off as uncollectible and portions of the reserves utilized, respectively.

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