To get the respect of the world press, one must first earn it. I expect he will eventually do so, but we can't expect the rest of the world to just take out word for it. The fact that his test times have been generally off the pace does nothing to reinforce the assumption that he is just slightly out of his league at this time.
Mind you, that is not my opinion, but the bulk of the world press has not watched him in the AMA over the past several years. Actually, as Nicky has recently stated, it is AMA that gets shorted in the opinion of much of the world.
To much of the world press (and fans) -- especially those who focus on MotoGP, WSB is an inferior series (and thus Colin, Troy, Nori etc don't get a lot of respect either), and AMA is looked at as being a notch or two lower than that. I predict that they will soon have to revisit that opinion as relating to WSB.
Personally I think Nicky is showing a lot of maturity at this stage, not building up unrealistic expectations, taking his time to learn the bike and the tracks, routinely putting in more laps than anyone and remaining patient, rather than trying to force himself past his limits just to impress someone.
Regards
Bob