There was a time when the late night review of the day’s news was little more than a blip on Nielsen’s radar, but it has grown in stature since 2000. That year, you may recall, they first chose to call their election coverage “Indecision 2000”, little realizing how prescient that would be. The resulting fracas was grist to Jon Stewart’s mill and catapulted the show into the forefront of political coverage. The fact that Stewart refers to the show’s content as “fake news” doesn’t fool anyone.

The bulk of it is, of course, real news. And it’s the primary source for news for the majority of Americans under the age of 25. Now that could be frightening information. On the other hand, have you seen the mainstream media recently? Woodward and Bernstein would spin in their graves…if they were dead. The networks have reduced their coverage to the point where it is almost non-existent, while the cablers have their own axes to grind.

The competition among the cable news networks has led to a steadily declining tone of conversation. The diatribes of Fox News have been met with the testosterone-fuelled rants of CNN’s Crossfire. Everywhere, reasoned discussion has given way to the boorish interruptions of barroom squabbles. Where discussions about politics used to be informative, now they serve merely to confirm one group’s opinion about the other. No-one can complete a sentence, let alone a thought.

The one exception to this wasteland of invective has turned out to be The Daily Show, with the result that its ratings have doubled over the past twelve months. Where once they were desperate for guests, now Stewart routinely interviews presidents (well, ex-presidents), senators, and the major movers and shakers of Washington. And although Stewart is unabashedly Democrat, big-wigs from both sides of the aisle are beating a path to the Daily Show’s couch. Why?

Part of the reason is undoubtedly because Stewart’s audience represents a demographic that it is notoriously difficult for politicians to reach. But it’s more than that.

Stewart is polite. He listens. He doesn’t just wait for a pause in the conversation so he can launch onto his own particular hobbyhorse. He respects the opinions of his guests, even if he doesn’t agree with them. But he’s no easy mark, either. If a guest brings up a “fact” that isn’t, Stewart will correct them. Without yelling. He just lets them know that he knows the score and (this is the point) asks the questions.

Yes, all those questions that the network talking heads won’t ask, somehow get asked on The Daily Show. And the pols answer them! From their point of view, Jon Stewart gives them the opportunity to reach an important demo, but the fact that it’s a comedy show seems to make them relax: they answer more, prevaricate less. And the fact that Stewart is affable without being obsequious makes them inclined to talk more, and in actual sentences, as opposed to tag lines. They like it so much, they keep coming back – John McCaine has been on twice in as many months.

What can the networks and cable new channels learn from this? How about manners? The Daily Show’s soaring ratings indicate a wider audience than the original 20-somethings; more people of all ages are tuning in not only because it is funny, but because it is also civilized. At a time when both humor and politics have become in-your-face pursuits where whoever has the loudest voice or the crudest joke wins, Jon Stewart and the writers and regulars of The Daily Show have demonstrated that reasoned debate and a sharp satirical eye have more value than all the screaming banshees of cable news and smug smiles of network anchors put together.