Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 27, 2015	Sep. 28, 2014	Sep. 27, 2015	Sep. 28, 2014
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 90,614	$ 50,648	$ 191,532	$ 192,411
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	(2,359)	67,868	125,485	193,731
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 88,255	$ 118,516	$ 317,017	$ 386,142
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - basic (in shares)	224,530	225,761	226,053	226,374
Effect of dilutive securities:
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - diluted (in shares)	230,078	232,097	231,310	232,157
Earnings from continuing operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.40	$ 0.22	$ 0.85	$ 0.85
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	(0.01)	0.30	0.55	0.86
Net income per share – basic (In dollars per share)	0.39	0.52	1.40	1.71
Earnings from continuing operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	0.39	0.22	0.83	0.83
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	(0.01)	0.29	0.54	0.83
Net income per share – diluted (In dollars per share)	$ 0.38	$ 0.51	$ 1.37	$ 1.66
Restricted Stock
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities	2,694	2,900	2,436	2,809
Performance Share Units
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities	1,819	2,424	1,907	1,958
Stock Options
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities	1,035	1,012	914	1,016