ella,

I think you have to look beyond what is played on the radio and telly. There are many fine and topical songwriters who do NOT receive airplay BECAUSE their material is topical; that is, disk jockeys (or whatever they're called now) fear repercussions from the station's management/board of directors. You might look at the material from Billy Bragg who DOES get airplay, Steve Knightley in the UK, Bruce Cockburn (in Canada) who addresses environmental issues. There are lots. But there are problems also. In the words of an old '60s song

"But if I really say it
The radio won't play it"