The ABC is facing a backlash from opposition leader Bill Shorten, MPs and journalists after it reportedly stood down one of its presenters following an on-air TV blooper.
Natasha Exelby was presenting late-night rolling coverage on ABC News 24 just after 10pm on Saturday when she appeared to be caught daydreaming as a story package ended.
She stared at her pen for several seconds before gasping, jumping in surprise and introducing the sport section of the broadcast.
A 12-second clip of the incident was highlighted by the ABC's Media Watch, which went viral on social media.
Exelby managed to recover from the blooper, responding promptly when the next package ended and continuing to anchor the coverage until past midnight. She later took the incident in good humour, writing on Twitter to thank everyone for their support.
"Not my finest hour. Myself and my mesmerising pen honourably salute you!" she said.
However, her network reportedly did not find it as funny.
On Monday, News Corp reported Exelby has been banned from future on-air roles on News 24 - which was recently rebranded to "ABC news on television" - following the incident.
An ABC spokeswoman would not be drawn on whether action had been taken against Exelby.
More (plus the video, which is actually funny):
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/abc-faces-backlash-after-presenter-natasha-exelby-reportedly-banned-over-daydream-blooper-20170410-gvi4ko.html
