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Goodwill and other Intangible Assets (Tables) | 9 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2013
Goodwill [Line Items] |
Schedule of Goodwill [Table Text Block] | Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill are as follows:
|  | 39 Weeks Ended |
| (Thousands of Dollars) | June 30 2013 |
| Goodwill, gross amount | 1,536,000 |
| Accumulated impairment losses | (1,288,729 | )
| Goodwill, beginning of period, as previously reported | 247,271 |
| Goodwill allocated to discontinued operations | (3,542 | )
| Goodwill, beginning of period, as reclassified | 243,729 |
| Goodwill, end of period | 243,729 |
Schedule of Intangible Assets [Table Text Block] | Identified intangible assets consist of the following:
| (Thousands of Dollars) | June 30 2013 |  | September 30 2012 |
| Nonamortized intangible assets: |  |
| Mastheads | 28,605 |  | 28,605 |
| Amortizable intangible assets: |  |
| Customer and newspaper subscriber lists | 855,773 |  | 855,773 |
| Less accumulated amortization | 466,000 |  | 437,366 |
|  | 389,773 |  | 418,407 |
| Noncompete and consulting agreements | 28,524 |  | 28,524 |
| Less accumulated amortization | 28,520 |  | 28,519 |
|  | 4 |  | 5 |
|  | 418,382 |  | 447,017 |

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- Definition Schedule of Intangible Assets [Table Text Block]- Tabular disclosure of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with both finite and infinite lives, by major class. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Details
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of goodwill by reportable segment and in total which includes a rollforward schedule. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=14024403&loc=d3e13854-109267 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=14024403&loc=d3e13816-109267 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 142 -Paragraph 45 -Subparagraph e -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 142 -Paragraph 45 -Subparagraph c -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 142 -Paragraph 47 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. + Details
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