SYDNEY — An Australian newsreader has been fired after she was caught daydreaming on live TV. <br /> <br />When a pre-recorded report came to an end, news anchor Natasha Exelby appeared on screen fooling around with a pen and lazily staring into space. <br /> <br />Realizing she was back on air, a startled Exelby gasped, but then recovered quickly to hand over to sports news. <br /> <br />Exelby’s employer, ABC24, failed to see the funny side, however. <br /> <br />The station fired the newscaster, saying she was a casual contributor, not a permanent member of staff, and had only been booked for occasional on-air shifts when needed, according to the New York Daily News. <br /> <br />Other journalists hit out at ABC24’s decision to fire Exelby. They described her as a natural, professional presenter and said ABC24 had massively overreacted. <br /> <br />Others newsreaders pointed out that they had made worse bloopers on air and not been fired. <br /> <br />And now an online petition has been launched to get her reinstated. <br /> <br />Exelby said she took responsibility for the mistake, according to News.com.au. <br /> <br />She recently returned to Australia after 18 months working as a correspondent for a Turkish TV channel, covering the war in Syria and major terrorist attacks in Europe. <br /> <br />Exelby said that with all the sad news out of Syria recently, she was just glad to give people a laugh — even at her own expense.
