Document and Entity Information	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 25, 2012	Apr. 27, 2012 Class A Common Stock	Apr. 27, 2012 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	--12-30
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Mar. 25, 2012
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Trading Symbol	NYT
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		147,225,126	818,385