Document and Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 25, 2011	Oct. 28, 2011 Class A Common Stock	Oct. 28, 2011 Class B Common Stock
Document and Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	NEW YORK TIMES CO
Entity Central Index Key	0000071691
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-25
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 25, 2011
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	NYT
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		146,626,388	818,885