El Greko: your suggestion that "they" might consult eg Eliza or Martin Carthy seems to me very rational, but very naive. In real life, media people tend to talk to media people. Musicians talk to musicians. Arts funders talk to arts administrators. People tend to stick to their own worlds. So those programmes fit with the interests of certain journalists and TV producers, and not particularly with musicians'(or punters') preconceptions.
    A remarkable examp[le of this can be studied: I just have.There was a discussion on the Folk Roots Forum a year ago, initiated by someone who said they didnt like English folk music, much as they liked other kinds. Eliza Carthy came into the ensuing argument with a list of recordings of artists she would recommend to play to people to people who didnt like English folk, to make them change their mind. Now, isn't that just the sort of list you think the BBC might be working through, when constructing a "Folk Britannia" series of programmes? You'ld think some such thought would come up, like" While, young Eliza is the main star of the scene. Might to interesting to look at the people she likes".
    Now, I havent seen all the programmes, but I believe that this Carthy list is conspicuous by its absence in the listings for "Folk Britannia". Odd, isn't it? Now, it's quite understandable that the Joe Bloggs of this world don't get the ear of the big cheeses at the BBC, but you would think EC would, wouldn't you?