An examination of metaphor usage in Reuters and Associated Press news dispatches regarding the British ratification process of the EC Maastricht Treaty focuses on the final debate and the votes in the British Parliament in July, 1993. Following a detailed review of relevant literature regarding the nature and function of metaphor, three types of metaphor are identified in the corpus, including war metaphors (126), game metaphors (42), and journey metaphors (72). These metaphors fulfill the functions of helping to understand and persuade in general, making events more meaningful. They also indicate negativity and personalization. It is suggested that these data support the hypothesis that metaphor enhances newsworthiness and can be linked to news value. (Copyright 1998, Sociological Abstracts, Inc., all rights reserved.) (LLBA 1998, vol. 32, n. 1)