You know, John, I must be very lucky in that almost all of the music I come across in Yorkshire that is categorised as folk does exactly that.

There are many traditions. I suppose the one being described in the article means the oral tradition.

BUT a tradition doesn't have to be ancient to be a tradition. it could be something that started in the 50s or even a few years ago, technically speaking some time in the past

'if we want to call something 'folk' today then it must......'
Once again you ought to add here 'IMO'. There are lots of influential people in the world who would argue with both you and Stewart Hendrickson. I'm not one of them, but I have to acknowledge their existence.