Overlooking the occasional spat, the core of this thread strikes a particular chord with me, since I have spent much of my career in newspapers trying to persuade editors to use reviews, previews and features about folk. (I have just succeeded in getting my new employers in Abu Dhabi to run a whole page on what is folk, and which performers I recommend, on the flimsy basis of a Paul Simon CD review.
Read it here if you're interested

But over the years, I have endured daughters on car journeys exclaiming: "Oh no, not dad's diddly-dee music again." Colleagues and friends have sneered at my tastes. Burglars have ignored my record collection. I also recognise that lots of people who like the music are quite happy for it to remain marginalised, as if too much popularity equals unwelcome impurity. I have certainly been guilty of such feelings myself, but 40 years after attending a folk club for the first time, there is no other music I'd rather listen to or write about.