Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 27, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 27, 2015
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 118,683	$ 93,572	$ 311,052	$ 201,516
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	(5,317)	(7,474)	115,501
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.	$ 118,683	$ 88,255	$ 303,578	$ 317,017
Basic shares	214,813	224,530	216,865	226,053
Effect of dilutive securities:
Diluted shares	218,099	230,078	220,511	231,310
Earnings from continuing operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.55	$ 0.42	$ 1.43	$ 0.89
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations per share - basic (in dollars per share)	0.00	(0.03)	(0.03)	0.51
Net income per share – basic (In dollars per share)	0.55	0.39	1.40	1.40
Earnings from continuing operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	0.54	0.41	1.41	0.87
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	0.00	(0.03)	(0.03)	0.50
Net income per share – diluted (In dollars per share)	$ 0.54	$ 0.38	$ 1.38	$ 1.37
Restricted stock units
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities (in shares)	1,630	2,694	1,662	2,436
Performance share units
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities (in shares)	775	1,819	1,049	1,907
Stock options
Effect of dilutive securities:
Dilutive securities (in shares)	881	1,035	935	914