It sounds as if the young New Zealander/Australian/whatever is really only half-educated. Oh, she/he may have a degree, but it's amazing how easy it is to graduate from uni without knowing very much. Or with knowing only a little about a lot of things. There used to be a saying (maybe it's still around) that the knowledge of most journalists is a mile wide and an inch deep. That may apply to most "educated" people, too, since they won't have the time, the inclination, the know-how, or the patience to research issues beyond the accounts that are easily accessible to them via their newspaper and television accounts. Maybe most educated people feel they don't have to be skeptical, because the views that are dominant in their societies are reinforced by diplomats and scholars. Anyone with dissenting views runs the danger of being ridiculed or ignored, or they simply won't get far in their careers. The last point is not to imply that there is any concerted action to enforce ideological conformity. But I think that anyone with outspoken pro-Zionist views won't make it very far in most diplomatic corps; won't find it easy to get interviews with Arab leaders if they're journalists; and won't find it so easy to get advisors, research grants, or tenure-track jobs if they're ME specialists in academia. These problems would emerge naturally, because those in a position of authority would simply avoid pro-Zionists as a personal and political preference. It's the accumulation of such individual decisions that form an overall pattern. And since Israel is generally hated by most of the right people in most of the right places, I could see how that pattern could form and be reinforced. It's not the same everywhere; there are probably differences depending on the region, country, and professional field. But I imagine that this trend contributes to reporting that this young Australian/New Zealander sees. There is also the practical difficulty of diverging from accepted views and paradigms: I'm under the impression that journalists reporting from Palestine/Israel have to meet draconian deadlines, usually don't speak Arabic (!!), have to please their editors, and have to tow the line with the PLO so as not to be intimidated or lose out where other reporters are getting through. Time pressure, competition, the need to please one's superiors to get ahead. Certain stories are just easier to report and more easily accepted. So, this vicious cycle just keeps going around and around. I'm surprised that the Israelis didn't know how badly their country is regarded. They don't have satellite dishes or cable? Have they missed something while this subtly but definitely negative reporting has been going on for the last 25 years? I just hope that the Israelis don't lose heart and accept an "if you can't beat them, join them" attitide.