Faker news? The sick note heard round the world

● Calling in sick can be a little daunting as you try to convey your illness over the phone to convince your boss of a genuine ailment.

Sending an e-mail is easier, giving you time to choose your words carefully and sidestepping any chance of sounding excited about your upcoming duvet day.

The UK’s Mirror reports that when US TV reporter Nick Vasas felt under the weather this week, he decided to e-mail colleagues to let them know he wasn’t going to be in.

Instead, he committed a blunder that led to a flood of concerned e-mails, a shrine being created and the hashtag #PrayersForNick being widely used on Twitter.

Instead of telling the handful of colleagues who would be affected by his absence, the traffic reporter for Kansas City FOX4 accidentally e-mailed tens of thousands of the company’s employees at stations across the US, using the “breaking news” contact list. Employees were then bombarded with “reply all” responses with concerns for Vasas, as well-wishers sent their “thoughts and prayers” from as far as Buffalo and Las Vegas.

Many of the stations recorded messages in their news studios to spread the news of Vasas’s sick day.

It appeared the only station that didn’t receive the e-mail was the one it was intended for, with one of Vasas’s managers tweeting: “Grateful to report he and I have communicated and he is going to pull through. You guys are a scream. Funny enough, WE didn’t get that e-mail.”

Thousands of people began a hashtag to send their sympathies and Vasas’s own station created a huge shrine at his desk, complete with candles, flowers and framed pictures of their struggling hero.

Vasas took it all in his stride, thanking people for their thoughts as he recovered from minor oral surgery the day before.

Not everyone saw the funny side, though. The company issued an all-staff e-mail to say: “I hate to be a party pooper and I have as much sympathy for Nick as anyone. But with the number of members of the breaking news list there could be thousands of e-mails sent by the time this is done.”

The group was locked down to ensure it was only used for big breaking news stories, which could be missed among the stream of get well messages.

One replied: “They can take away our emails, but they can’t take away our #PrayersForNick.”