"Congress has always respected the media. It has an important place in a democracy. Shinde has himself clarified in the matter," party spokesman Shaktisinh Gohil told reporters.
The remarks came in the wake of the Home Minister threatening to "crush" the electronic media and later making a U-turn, claiming he was referring to the social media and not journalists.
The Gujarat chief minister had put a journalist Manoj Shinde behind bars on serious charges of anti-national activities for writing against him, the Congress spokesperson alleged.
The Home Minister's statement was directed at the "paid team" of the BJP, which attacks virulently anyone who targets Modi or his party, he said.
Shinde had stoked a controversy on Sunday evening by threatening to "crush" the electronic media, alleging a section of it was unnecessarily provoking the Congress by indulging in "false propaganda" against it.