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                                                                    EXHIBIT 4.12


                                FIRST AMENDMENT
                                       TO
                             A. H. BELO CORPORATION
                              EMPLOYEE THRIFT PLAN


         A. H. Belo Corporation, a Delaware corporation, adopts the following
amendments to the A. H. Below Employee Thrift Plan (the "Plan").

         1.      Section 3.2 of the Plan is amended in its entirety to read as
follows:

                 3.2      Participating Employer Matching Contributions.

                          (a)     Amount of Matching Contributions.  Each
         Participating Employer will pay to the Plan as a matching contribution
         for each payroll period the amount, if any, designated for that
         Participating Employer on Appendix B to the Plan.  In addition, each
         Participating Employer may make an additional matching contribution
         for any Plan Year if authorized by its board of directors, but no
         Participating Employer will be required to make an additional matching
         contribution for any Plan Year.  Participating Employer matching
         contributions may be made in cash or in shares of Company Stock or
         both.

                          (b)     Calculation of Matching Contributions.
         Participating Employer matching contributions will be calculated
         solely on the basis of Deferral Contributions and Compensation for
         each payroll period within the Plan Year.

                          (c)     Limitation on Matching Contributions.
         Participating Employer matching contributions will be subject to the
         limitations set forth in Section 10.7, unless such contributions are
         taken into account in determining Participant deferral percentages
         under Section 10.6, in which case matching contributions will be
         subject to the limitations set forth in Section 10.6.

         2.      Section 3.3 is amended in its entirety to read as follows:
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                 3.3      Time of Payment.  Deferral Contributions and
         Participating Employer matching contributions made with respect to
         payroll periods will be paid to the Trustee as soon as practicable
         following the close of each calendar month during the Plan Year.
         Additional matching contributions may be paid to the Trustee on any
         date or dates selected by the Participating Employer, but in no event
         later than the time prescribed by law (including extensions) for
         filing the Participating Employer's federal income tax return for its
         tax year ending with or within the Plan Year.

         3.      Section 4.2 is amended to read in its entirety as follows:

                 4.2      Allocation of Contributions and Forfeitures.  Each
         Deferral Contribution made by a Participating Employer on behalf of a
         Participant will be allocated by the Committee to the Participant's
         Deferral Contribution Account.  Each Participating Employer matching
         contribution made with respect to a payroll period and all forfeitures
         will be allocated by the Committee to the Matching Contribution
         Accounts of Participants employed by that Participating Employer in
         the ratio that the Deferral Contributions made on behalf of each such
         Participant bear to the total Deferral Contributions made on behalf of
         all such Participants for each such payroll period, taking into
         account for purposes of this ratio only Deferral Contributions that do
         not exceed the percent of each Participant's Compensation for the
         payroll period that is set forth on Appendix B.

         4.      The fourth sentence of Section 10.6(c) of the Plan
("Limitation on Deferral contributions") is amended in its entirety to read as
follows:

         If Matching Contributions are taken into account in determining
         Deferral Percentages, a Participant's Deferral Percentage will be
         reduced by distributing first Deferral Contributions in excess of the
         percent of Compensation for which Matching Contributions are made (as
         set forth on Appendix B) and by distributing next the remaining
         Deferral Contributions and Matching Contributions, in proportion to
         the amount of such contributions for the Plan Year.





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         5.      The Plan is amended by the addition of a new appendix, which
will read as follows:

                                   APPENDIX B

                         RATE OF MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS

                 1.       Matching Contributions for Participants Employed by
         DFW Suburban Newspapers, Inc.  Effective with the first payroll period
         beginning after June 3, 1995, DFW Suburban Newspapers, Inc.  will pay
         to the Plan as a matching contribution for each payroll period an
         amount equal to 50% of each Participant's Deferral Contributions, but
         only to the extent that the Participant's Deferral Contributions do
         not exceed 5% of the Participant's Compensation for the payroll
         period.

         6.      The foregoing amendments will be effective on and after June
4, 1995. 

         Executed at Dallas, Texas, this 17th day of July, 1995.


                                        A. H. BELO CORPORATION



                                        By  /s/ M. Perry
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