This article examines some of the discourse practices of contemporary television news reporting. Basing their analysis on BBC and ITV reports of the G20 summit meeting in London, April 2009, the authors investigate aspects of contemporary television news coverage. Drawing on Goffman’s work on backstage and frontstage regions and on footing, the authors focus specifically on the role of small talk, media self-referentiality and artfulness in visual and verbal synchrony as resources for personalisation and recontextualisation of private activities as public discourse.