HERE IS HOW the June 6 Washington Post covered the death of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the fortieth president of the United States and arguably the most significant American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

*One banner headline, in bold type, "Ronald Reagan Dies," followed by the subhead, "40th President Reshaped American politics."

*Four front-page stories, including articles on Reagan's life ("Actor, Governor, President, Icon"), death (the aforementioned "40th President Reshaped American politics"), and legacies foreign ("Hastening an End to the Cold War") and domestic ("Sagging GOP Rebuilt in His Image").

*An eight-page pull-out section, titled "Ronald Wilson Reagan: 1911-2004: A Life, A Legacy" and featuring in-depth reporting on everything from Reagan's rise to plans for the president's state funeral to dissections of the spontaneous crowds and memorials that formed outside the Bel Air, California, funeral home where Reagan's body is being prepared for burial.

*Four additional articles in the Post's Style section under the group headline "The Leading Man."

*An appreciation from columnist George F. Will, and a separate, unsigned editorial on Reagan's legacy.

And here is how the June 6 New York Times, the nation's paper of record, a publication that prides itself on its "flood the zone" coverage of important news events, covered the president's death:

*One three-column headline, "Ronald Reagan dies at 93; Fostered Cold-War might and Curbs on Government," followed by a 10,820-word obituary penned by chief obituary writer Marilyn Berger.

That's it.

YOU CAN GIVE THE TIMES CREDIT for an additional story in the Sunday late editions, clocking in at an additional 975 words, on

But still. Consider: The picture of Reagan adorning the Times front-page is, to my eye at least, exactly the size of the front-page picture of Smarty Jones, the racehorse that lost the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. A story on Smarty Jones shares the top fold of the Times front-page with Reagan, incidentally, as do stories on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the competition over who will be Senator John Kerry's running mate. (In the Post, Reagan gets the top fold all to himself.)

What's going on here? American media organizations have been preparing for Reagan's death for years. At 93 Reagan was the oldest president ever. Time and Newsweek, which close their publications on Saturday, were both able to put together Reagan cover packages (THE WEEKLY STANDARD closed before Reagan's death on Saturday). Surely the Times had its coverage of Reagan's legacy in the works for some time.

And you get the sense, upon reading Berger's obituary, that it was, for the most part, written some time ago, held in reserve until the inevitable day arrived. It begins innocently enough, the obituary does, providing the "news" element to the story--where, when, and how Reagan died--and including President Bush's reaction to the sad news.

Then comes the tenth paragraph, before the jump to the attractive four-page spread on Reagan. And here the Times gets into the meat and potatoes of the Reagan presidency:

Late in 1986, halfway through his second term, Mr. Reagan and his administration were plunged into turmoil by an effort to deal too rashly with the same kind of hostage crisis that he had accused President Jimmy Carter of handling too gingerly.