But so far the real action ... and the damage, is elsewhere

Here's the front page of the Herald Sun on Friday, savaging an ordinary voter who got caught in the election crossfire

ABC HERO A VILLAIN Q&A sob story star exposed as a thug as public donate $60,000 DUNCAN Storrar, the Geelong man the ABC presented as a "new national hero", has an extensive criminal record over two decades, including threats to kill and unlawful assault — Herald Sun, 13 May, 2016

So who is Duncan Storrar?

He's a man who asked a question on the ABC's Q&A about why he didn't get a tax break from the Budget.

Yes, really.

And it wasn't just the Herald Sun that was ripping into him. News Corp's The Australian was also revealing his rap sheet.

Q&A 'hero' convicted for threats to kill — The Australian, 13 May, 2016

That front page story by Caroline Overington front page exclusive the previous day branding the Q&A questioner an undeserving drug user who had let his family down.

... the truth about my father, the Q&A 'hero' — The Australian, 12 May, 2016

So what had he done to deserve this fury? Well, it had all started with this question on Q&A to a panel including government minister Kelly O'Dwyer

DUNCAN STORRAR: I've got a disability and a low education - that means I've spent my whole life working off a minimum wage. You're gonna lift the tax-free threshold for rich people. If you lift my tax-free threshold, that changes my life. That means that I get to say to my little girls, 'Daddy's not broke this weekend, we can go to the pictures.' Rich people don't even notice their tax-free threshold lift. ADAM BANDT: That's right. DUNCAN STORRAR: Why don't I get it? Why do they get it? — ABC, Q&A, 9 May, 2016

Duncan went on to repeat the claim that lifting the tax-free threshold would change his life, and added:

DUNCAN STORRAR: Low-income earners lose more money, because every penny we pay in tax, is, just, that's money we don't have to spend at the bottom end. People who make $80,000 a year, don't know who they are, well, they don't even notice it, love. We notice that sort of stuff, eh? — ABC, Q&A, 9 May, 2016

Before he knew it, and whether he liked it or not, Duncan was starring as a poster boy for the left - the battler the Turnbull Budget had ignored

On social media hundreds of people tweeted their support with the hashtag #IstandwithDuncan

And, as his fame went viral, Q&A producer Amanda Collinge added a tweet she has since deleted, proclaiming:

Duncan has struck a chord. New national hero. — Twitter, @amandacollinge, 10 May, 2016

Not the wisest move, perhaps.

Read Amanda Collinge's statement to Media Watch.

By Tuesday morning the mainstream media were also moving in ... to build him up or knock him down.

The Age sent a photographer to snap him with his kids and claim

Election 2016: Q&A star Duncan Storrar puts a human face on the budget battle — The Age, 11 May, 2016

The Australian also sent its photographer round and hit back with a counter claim:

Federal Election 2016: ABC's 'budget fairness' victim pays no net tax — The Australian, 11 May, 2016

By now the public had also begun digging deep to support him

And even The Australian's Caroline Overington was on his side, replying to Amanda Collinge in a tweet that Overington has now deleted:

... that is one of the most heartwarming things ever. :) — Twitter, @overingtonc, 11 May, 2016

Overington also wrote in an opinion piece in the Oz the same day that Duncan had showed

... great dignity ... — The Australian, 11 May, 2016

... in his replies, despite being treated by some on the Q&A panel with a:

... Dickensian heartlessness that is hard to fathom. — The Australian, 11 May, 2016

But Overington also flagged

... claims, now being checked, that Duncan doesn't deserve a cent of your support. — The Australian, 11 May, 2016

And once those claims from friends, son and step daughter had been followed up it was open season on Duncan.

With the story ticking all boxes for News Corp:

Bash the poor.

Bash the ABC.

And Bash Labor.

The perfect trifecta.

On Friday morning the Herald Sun's front page splash hit the streets.

And editor Damon Johnston was on ABC radio with Jon Faine to defend his paper's actions in turning this man's life upside down.

JON FAINE: I think you're being a bully, Damon, and I think you're doing it in today's front page as well. 'ABC hero a villain'. 'Q&A sob story star exposed as a thug as public donate $60,000'. Another man who quite openly put his own battle with mental illness on national television on Q&A on Monday night, you go back more than 15 years to expose his criminal record to again bully and vilify him. What are you doing? DAMON JOHNSTON: Well, I think it's a legitimate point of public debate. If you put yourself on the public stage, and in, particularly in the middle of an election campaign, questioning government policy, questioning this, I think that you're entitled to be subjected to a bit of scrutiny. JON FAINE: A bit of scrutiny? A bit of scrutiny? DAMON JOHNSTON: And this, this man's son has obviously worked with us on the story and he was, he had a view on his father, so it was all part of legitimate public debate in my view. — 774 ABC Melbourne, Mornings with Jon Faine, 13 May, 2016

So is this what now happens in Australia to someone who sticks their head up in public and exercises their democratic rights?

Duncan didn't ask to be a national hero. Or a national villain. Nor did he ask for our charity.

All he did was put his hand up and ask a question. And he was crucified.

Last night he told Media Watch:

If a person shows the powers to be out of touch people, that they are, they will be dropped, probed and attacked in any way with no thought to the mental wellbeing of their children. This exposing of your life and every discrepancy in it will be published ruining your job prospects. — Duncan Storrar, Email to Media Watch, 11 May, 2016

And you can read a full statement from Duncan Storrar on our website, and despite the week he's had, he did say:

"Thank you Australia for all your support. I didn't want this."