But journalists here say they are increasingly facing intimidation aimed at stopping them from running stories critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his administration. Swapan Dasgupta, a member of parliament and a political columnist who supports Modi, said the press freedom ranking was “quite inexplicable”. Sagarika Ghose, a columnist with the Times of India newspaper, said she is viciously trolled for any criticism of the administration. Journalists say that media proprietors, who often have multiple kinds of businesses, are risk averse and can be leaned on by the government. At least two senior journalists familiar with the situation said they were told that Modi was unhappy with Ghosh’s editorial policies.

Source: bd News24 April 26, 2018 12:45 UTC