Republicans have become much less accepting than Democrats of the news media's watchdog role in society.

A new poll by the Pew Research Center finds that 89 percent of Democrats say criticism by the news media keeps political leaders "in line" – a result seen by the pollsters as acceptance of the media's watchdog role. Only 42 percent of Republicans feel this way. This 47-percentage-point gap is the widest ever recorded by Pew, which has been asking the question since 1985. The widest gap up to now occurred during the administration of Republican President George W. Bush more than a decade ago when Democrats were 28 points more likely than Republicans to support a watchdog role.

In contrast, in January and February 2016, 74 percent of Democrats and 77 percent of Republicans supported the watchdog role, which Pew defines as keeping political leaders from "doing things they shouldn't."

One reason for the disparity today, Pew finds, is that 87 percent of Republicans now believe that the news media favor "one side" while 53 percent of Democrats feel this way. The change parallels the rise of Republican President Donald Trump and his severe antagonism toward journalism. Trump regularly berates the mainstream media as "fake" and biased against him. He also says the media are at war with the American public. Republican voters have felt badly treated by the mainstream media for many years, but Trump's regular barrages may have further undermined journalism's overall credibility with them.

Democrats also are now 23 points more likely than Republicans to have "a lot of trust" in the information they get from the national news media, by 34 to 11 percent, low numbers for both parties. And Democrats are 15 points more likely than Republicans to say national news organizations are "doing very well" at keeping them informed, 33 to 18 percent.

Americans also are paying closer attention to national news now than in 2016, with the increase driven mainly by Democrats. Four out of 10 Americans report following national news very closely, up from one-third a year ago. Among Democrats, 49 percent say they follow the news very closely, also up from one-third in 2016.