I have been tempted to join in with this thread - though wading through turgid postings from entrenched positions has prevented me. It would be very pleasing to read something even vaguely original in the many Mudcat discussions about fRoots and its firm policy that folk music does not just include English speaking countries.
I have written extensively in the past for fRoots, The Living Tradition and for that matter English Dance & Song. I have even been offered the joint editorship of one of them on more than one occasion; an offer which I turned down as I consider that I already have enough on my plate. Over the years, I have also written for a number of regional magazines and more academic publications. I consider myself to be a friend of the editors of the three magazines that I have mentioned. In my one and only posting in this thread, I would like to make the following points:-

* I read avidly (my wife might say "obsessively") every issue of all the national folk music publications and many of the regional ones that I obtain on a "swap issues" basis (I am joint editor of the Sussex area mag The Folk Diary). My firm opinion is that the best written, best designed and most comprehensively interesting of the lot is provided by fRoots. Even though its editorial policy is much broader than just what happens in the UK, I find more that is relevant about the state of the British folk scene in fRoots than the other magazines. It has never failed to meet a publication date in 33 years of its existence and it pays its contributors handsomely and promptly... that is, those who send in invoices. Personally, I stopped sending invoices several years ago when I understood the the recession meant that it was in financial difficulties and I considered that I would prefer to have fRoots continuing than being paid for writing for them.

* If you are interested in "World Music" - a term that I have never liked - compare the content of fRoots with that of its main competitor, Songlines and decide which magazine is presenting in-depth articles and which favours short promotional "puffs" for artists along with a glossy photo.

* Those who consider that interesting folk music stops at Dover and make supposedly funny references to invented foreign traditions such as we have read above in this thread are truly missing out. Believe me, the world is full of exciting traditional music - real people expressing their own culture outside the confines of the music industry of the Western developed countries. There is so much that is exhilerating and fascinating that it is impossible to keep up with it all. I could cheerfully spend the rest of my life listening the fabulous roots, folk and traditional musics of West Africa - but I won't because there is so much of interest elsewhere including the incredibly rich British folk song and music heritage.

* The real world situation outside of Mudcat is nothing like the "Folkier Than Thou - we know what is right" attitudes that I read here. Mike (Will Fly) is right about the songs of Jimmy Rogers, the music of Jelly Roll Morton and Irish dance tunes existing side by side with other rootsy music and songs at the Lamb. It will be the same at the Folk At The Royal Oak in Lewes on Thursday when Jim Eldon sings and plays his amazingly eclectic selection of music from traditional ballads learned from his father-in-law to recent pop hits and his own compositions and "I am Agency" sits happily alongside "The Cruel Mother". On the few evenings when our great kora-playing friend from The Gambia, Jali Sherrifo Konteh, was not booked during the three UK tours that we organised for him, we took our instruments and he took his to the sort of sessions that Mike mentions above. The other musicians just loved him and could not get enough of his playing. He in turn wanted to hear everything that the British tradition had to offer and he loved it.
In March, we got out of Sherrifo's beaten-up old car in Brikama and he took out his car battery so that he could attach his second-hand CD player to it - he has no electricity nor running water in his compound. He then put on one of his Shirley Collins albums.
Next month we are off to Sardinia and apart from having a relaxing holiday, I will be wanting to investigate and follow-up the contacts that I have made amongst the supreme singers of Canto a Tenore. Here is magnificent traditional singing that still exists in everyday life. Open your ears and enjoy it. Here's somewhere to start:- http://youtu.be/cWVCMvbGcPA