Business Segments (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 segment	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Florida Shoppers operations	Dec. 31, 2012 Foreign countries	Dec. 31, 2011 Foreign countries	Dec. 31, 2010 Foreign countries	Dec. 31, 2012 Direct Marketing	Dec. 31, 2011 Direct Marketing	Dec. 31, 2010 Direct Marketing	Dec. 31, 2012 Direct Marketing Minimum facility	Dec. 31, 2012 Direct Marketing Foreign countries Minimum facility	Dec. 31, 2012 Shoppers facility	Dec. 31, 2011 Shoppers	Dec. 31, 2010 Shoppers	Dec. 31, 2012 Shoppers California item	Dec. 31, 2012 Corporate Activities	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate Activities	Dec. 31, 2010 Corporate Activities
Business Segments
Number of operating segments									2
Business segments, information about operations
Number of facilities through which services are provided																			30	10
Number of separate editions that the publication was zoned into																					780
Number of packages circulated weekly																								9,100,000
Percentage of penetration offered to advertisers																					100.00%
Gross proceeds from sale of assets, subject to working capital adjustments												$ 2,000,000
Loss on sale, net of income taxes									(2,716,000)	0	0	(2,700,000)
Revenues	204,835,000	187,203,000	189,629,000	186,042,000	215,113,000	202,967,000	202,838,000	190,718,000	767,709,000	811,636,000	820,720,000		88,973,000	90,889,000	92,515,000	581,091,000	614,270,000	601,283,000			186,618,000	197,366,000	219,437,000
Operating income (loss)	22,142,000	17,345,000	(143,403,000)	13,976,000	24,622,000	21,178,000	17,234,000	15,064,000	(89,940,000)	78,098,000	93,246,000					75,398,000	83,490,000	86,748,000			(152,610,000)	5,839,000	17,795,000		(12,728,000)	(11,231,000)	(11,297,000)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes
Interest expense									(3,574,000)	(3,184,000)	(2,824,000)
Interest income									91,000	249,000	200,000
Other, net									(2,863,000)	1,505,000	(2,136,000)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes									(96,286,000)	76,668,000	88,486,000
Depreciation									20,176,000	19,622,000	21,443,000					15,659,000	15,195,000	16,792,000			4,498,000	4,409,000	4,638,000		19,000	18,000	13,000
Other intangible amortization									245,000	229,000	290,000					245,000	229,000	290,000			0	0	0
Capital expenditures									13,856,000	20,970,000	17,201,000					13,461,000	19,378,000	15,992,000			395,000	1,580,000	1,140,000		0	12,000	69,000
Total assets	$ 706,212,000				$ 916,325,000				$ 706,212,000	$ 916,325,000						$ 609,673,000	$ 674,776,000				$ 49,001,000	$ 153,679,000			$ 47,538,000	$ 87,870,000