Today in Media Files, the Gippsland Times has some curious biology advice in an ad for the same-sex marriage No campaign, and the Canberra Times has been found in breach of Australian Press Council standards.

Biology lessons from the Gippsland Times. The campaigning for the same-sex marriage survey has taken a strange turn in the Gippsland Times. The ad appears under the headline “What is marriage?” and includes some questionable statements, not least an improbable description of conception: “When the wife’s egg is fertilised by the husband’s sperm in the marital act of love, a flash of light occurs and a baby is conceived.”

Crimes Centrelink story breaches Press Council standards. A Canberra Times article about Centrelink debt recovery earlier this year breached the Press Council’s standards, because it described the debts as “bogus”, and that recovery notices were sent in “error”. The Department of Health Services complained to the council about the article, about more than 21,000 debt recovery notices that were sent out but later proved not to be owed. DHS said the debts were lawful and correct, and that it was not allowed a correction or letter to the editor in response to the story. The Press Council found that the Crimes didn’t take reasonable steps to ensure accuracy before describing the debts as “bogus” and sent in “error”, and that it had failed to provide adequate remedial action.

Tune in for Dame Judi Andrews. It’s time for the social media manager for Kyle and Jackie O to brush up on their British dames. A tweet from KIIS’s breakfast program yesterday spruiked a phone interview with Dame Judi Dench yesterday, using a picture of Dame Julie Andrews. The tweet was deleted and replaced (seven hours later) with a correction — it’s Mary Poppins herself calling in.

Failing the marshmallow test. With the proud empire of Fairfax reduced to three journos and a dog, and freelance rates through the floor, the licensed content is filing the op-ed pages. But even here, with a world of opinion, the beleaguered section editors appear to have given up. Case in point, a one-column piece in Wednesday’s Age, “Learn to wait, it’s better in long run” by Linda Blair (no, not that Linda Blair), from the UK Telegraph, which concludes that people do better in life who can summon self-control, after this study of kids left with a marshmallow … Yes, it’s the marshmallow study. The Age is really selling you another thinkpiece based on the marshmallow study done in the early 1960s (kids are promised two marshmallows, if they can hold off eating one, put before them, for five minutes, if you’re one of the three people who haven’t heard of it). Just in case you hadn’t read about it here in February, or here last year, or here in 2011, or read the book based on it, or heard that its findings had been questioned. A Google news search on “marshmallow test” gets 2890 hits for the past six months. One story begins: “Stop me if you’ve heard this …” We will. Publishing a piece of old rope like this is bad enough. Picking it up for syndication is even worse. Do at least make an effort in the end-times, Fairfax. — Guy Rundle

Andrew Olle lecturer announced. New York Times managing editor Joseph Kahn will deliver the ABC’s Andrew Olle Media lecture this year. Kahn’s address, to be delivered on October 27 at a black-tie dinner in Sydney, will focus on the role and future of the media. The lecture is in memory of an ABC broadcaster who died from a brain tumour in 1995. Money raised from the event goes to the Cure Brain Cancer Neuro-oncology Group at the University of New South Wales.

Glenn Dyer’s TV ratings. Nine’s night, again. The Block had 1.518 million national viewers — second, while it topped the metro most watched list with 1.028 million. Doctor Doctor’s second outing of the new series averaged 1.069 million national viewers and pushed Nine over the line to another easy win.

The ABC’s Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell was coded as a repeat in the ratings — it wasn’t and that’s an ABC error because last night’s episode was on the news. (If it was a repeat then it was terrifyingly up to date, in fact it would have foretold the future.) Utopia managed 963,000 national viewers and was also a bit too accurate for some politicians’ liking — the airport rail link, Melbourne and Sydney, and the insistence on social engagement via Twitter! The Bachelor managed 955,000 national viewers and Offspring 784,000 (so, the turn off for Offspring continues).

In mornings, Sunrise won nationally, but for the second morning in a row there was a big margin in the metros in favour of Today — 284,000 to 254,000 yesterday morning and 290,000 to 261,000 on Tuesday. The other feature of the breakfast battle is that it has been a long time (months) since both programs regularly cracked the 300,000 average audience for the two hours from 7am. 

In the regions, Seven News was tops with 581,000, followed by The Block with 490,000. Seven News/TT was 3rd with 475,000, then Home and Away with 449,000 and The Chase Australia (5.30) with 389,000 in 5th spot. — Read the rest on the Crikey website.