Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday advised media to understand its responsibility "a bit more" at a time when the Modi government was instilling "fear" among journalists.
"When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister and (P) Chidambaram was the Finance Minister, the media used to be very free in criticising them. But now a days, (I) do not know why they are not speaking out from the heart," he said at a day-long party convention amid cries of "shame, shame" from a section of audience.
Telling his party workers not to use the word, he said journalists do feel "frightened" because it is a matter of keeping their jobs and as they are mindful of phone calls from higher ups.
"We do not want to create trouble for you. But you should also understand your responsibility a bit more," he said at the convention.
Gandhi said media might have shown him in poor light or written against him but he would never scare them or work against their interests.
(With inputs from PTI)
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