Ned,

Thank you for your stimulating inquiry. I've spent some time reflecting on your question,
and found one `answer in Alice in Wonderland:

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone.
"It means just what I choose it to mean - neither more or less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - that's all."
    Lewis Carroll

I looked up "völkisch: in Grimm's Wörterbuch and found this reference to Bosworth-Toller's Dictionary
of Anglo-Saxon:
völkisch, adj. : ags. folcisc, common, vulgar, popular Bosworth-Toller;

and another reference to Fichte who pointed out thet the words "deutsch" 
and "völkish" are etymologically equivalent, -
I presume because they both refer to the same human substrate.

I was reminded of Luther's translations as "Volk" of "ethnos" and "gens" 
in Pilate's question at the Trial: 
"Dein Volk und die Hohenpriester haben dich mir überantwortet. Was hast du getan?"
"Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?" (King James Version, John 18:35)
"Gens tua et pontifices tradiderunt te mihi. Quid fecisti?" (Vulgata)

"Gens tua", "Dein Volk" to which Pilate (and Luther) referred was, of course, the Jewish Nation.

The precise translation of "Völkischer Beobachter" in 2013 is, in my opinion, an expression of ideology.
According to my view of the world, the correct translation of "Völkischer Beobachter"
would be "National Observer", with all the overtones of the word "nation".

As for my writing to TLS, I've found communication with newspapers unrewarding.
The last time I tried it, I addressed to Paul Krugman the question: 
If you assert (as I believe correctly) that the (Bush) government always lies, 
how can you justify economic analyses on the bases of economic data 
collected and published by the government? I received no answer.

Best wishes!

Jochen