Public perceptions of colonial settlers

"Political realities and options are shaped to no small degree by public perception, which is in turn shaped by media coverage. Perhaps if Native Americans had been portrayed in media accounts as sympathetic individuals instead of a generally undifferentiated mass (often treated as unwelcoming and hateful), the political realities of the American West would have turned out differently. U.S. media accounts that portray the Israeli settlers as highly “law-abiding” individuals with whom the reader can identify, contrasted with largely invisible but clearly hateful Palestinians, obscure the illegality of the colonies and contribute to the intractable political situation the Time piece wrings its hands over." (thanks Marcy)