I would agree that a ballad tells a story. I like the old ones as well. But, a new one that I would count as a ballad would be a song like John Prine's Sam Stone. Several of David Massengill's songs would also count (Orphan Train, My Name Joe). I'm sure there's a lot more. A jazz person would say that a ballad is any song that's slow, but I prefer the story myself.