Anchor gets caught daydreaming; Australian channel faces backlash for banning her

Natasha Exelby was presenting late-night rolling coverage after 10 pm on Saturday when she was caught daydreaming between segments.

Canberra: An Australian news channel is facing the ire of MPs and journalists after it reportedly banned one of its anchors, Natasha Exelby, from future on-air roles.

Exelby was presenting late-night rolling coverage on ABC News 24 after 10 pm on Saturday when she was caught daydreaming between segments.

As soon as she realised the camera was back on her, Exelby got a bit of a shock. She, however, regained her composure and professionally transitioned the program to a sports report.

The 12-second video was, however, tweeted by Media Watch, an official ABC account.

Watch the video:

That feeling when you're caught daydreaming at work :) (via @UmmRKSZ ) #mediawatch pic.twitter.com/lRkTbpygfo — Media Watch (@ABCmediawatch) April 9, 2017

Today, News Corp reported that Exelby has been banned from future on-air roles on News 24 - which was recently rebranded to "ABC news on television".

However, the reports of Exelby being censured were met with a backlash.

A petition on Change.org is calling for the experienced presenter to be reinstated.