In British India, bias in the media coverage of the Bengal famine of 1943 has been highlighted by historians. Calcutta's two leading English-language newspapers were "The Statesman" (at that time a British-owned newspaper) and "Amrita Bazar Patrika". In the early months of the famine, the government applied pressure on newspapers to "calm public fears about the food supply" and follow the official stance that there was no rice shortage. This effort had some success; "The Statesman" published editorials asserting that the famine was due solely to speculation and hoarding, while "berating local traders and producers, and praising ministerial efforts." News of the famine was also subject to strict war-time censorship – even use of the word "famine" was prohibited – leading "The Statesman" later to remark that the UK government "seems virtually to have withheld from the British public knowledge that there was famine in Bengal at all".