Document and Entity Information Document	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 23, 2012	Oct. 26, 2012 Class A Common Stock	Oct. 26, 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	Sep. 23, 2012
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	NYT
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		147,677,343	818,385