"Which is why I do not see exclusion of contemporary singer-songwriters."
Once again - who suggested that singer-songwriters should be excluded - not me certainly?
My first suggestion on the original question was "not trying to please all of the people all of the time"; - that's all.
In the past, in the UK at least, we have had both general programmes that reflected what was happening in the revival, alongside of ones dealing with specific aspects of folk song (The Song Carriers (10+4 progs, Songs of the People (13 progs), Collecting Folk (8 progs), In Praise of Ballads, Curiosities of Street Literature, Folk Music Virtuoso, As They Roved Out (not to be confused with 'As I....'); a whole host of productions by specialists in their subject: Lloyd, MacColl, Charles Parker, Philip Donnellan, John Levy, Jean Jenkins, Deben Bhattacharya, Lucy Duran......; appealing to all tastes that came under the 'folk' umbrella (which was a lot smaller then than it is now).
The downturn in the scene has been reflected perfectly by the disappearence of the 'folk' presence from the media, so those involved are forced to fight our own particular corner for the 'crumbs from the rich man's table', to get our material broadcast.
I have always regarded a healthy media presence as being essential to the the future of our music - our recruiting sergeant.
I contend that in order to satisfy those remaining on the scene, and to draw fresh enthusiasts into the music, a great deal of thought has to be given to the use of the miniscule amount of airspace we have at our disposal. Rather than making an alphabet soup of the talents available, I suggest that we need to accept that people who prefer Joe Heaney are not necessarily going to be attracted by a would-be Dylan, or any other singer-songwriter (whether both are folk is a battle to be fought elsewhere).
This is not to say that you can't enjoy both - you can still enjoy the playing of Yehudi Menuin and Jean Carignan without keeping them on the same shelf.
Jim Carroll