Watch: BBC newsreader slammed for pronunciation of Welsh national park
Welsh social media users have criticised a BBC newsreader over her pronunciation of one of Wales’ favourite national parks.
BBC newsreader Catherine Byaruhanga was seemingly unprepared when it came to pronouncing Bannau Brycheiniog on today’s BBC news.
In a story about the increase in the numbers of tourists visiting the “Instagrammable” national park, she mangled her words badly when attempting to pronounce the name of one of the most stunning parts of Wales.
When the clip was posted online the newsreader was criticised by many from Wales on social media.
Posting the clip on Facebook, Ashley Drake pointed out that the BBC has a pronunciation unit to assist their broadcasters to get it right.
“Did she miss the memo or was the pronunciation unit on their summer holidays at Dolygoloo or Betsi Co-ed?” he said. “This simply isn’t acceptable.”
Iwan Rhys Roberts added: “Would this happen if the location was in another country or the name wasn’t in Welsh?”
When one Facebook user suggested that the newsreader had ‘given it her best shot’, Essex Havard replied: “Sorry, but ‘gave it her best shot’ might be ok if you are on holiday there but not if you are representing the UK’s national broadcaster on their news programme.”
It’s not the first time the BBC has been embroiled in complaints over the Welsh language.
During the World Cup in 2022, BBC commentator Steve Wilson was criticised after making a joke about the perceived difficulty of pronouncing Welsh names during the Wales v Iran game.
Back in 2021 the BBC defended an episode of Have I Got News For You which included ‘jokes’ claiming that the Welsh language was unpronounceable.
While in 2020, BBC presenter Nick Robinson apologised after “mangling” Welsh place-names when discussing the coronavirus lockdown in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
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Beth yw’r gymraeg am ‘Oh – FFS!’, wn i? ~ I wonder what the Welsh for ‘Oh – FFS’ is?
Iesu mawr!
Why not help to understand instead of denigrate. I bet there are lots of places around the world the self righteous will have issues with. Especially when they are reading autocue.
Newsreaders write their own script for the autocue 🙄 The lady is not just a presenter or an actor reading a script, she’s a professional Journalist, it’s not unreasonable for her to learn the correct pronunciation.
And no mistakes are made on live TV. Ever. Never ever in the world are mistakes made. Rather than internet wade in with both size 12’s maybe cut some slack and help rather then “ner ner ner”.
Take your attitude elsewhere or stop living in a bubble. This a pattern now, not a one off! This isn’t the first time an English person on TV has butchered the pronunciation of a Welsh place name and it won’t be the last. The time for “cutting some slack” is over, it’s time to demand better. If this was French, Spanish, German etc. the Journalist would’ve got it right, but because it’s Welsh the attitude is “Meh. Who cares!?”
If you’d actually read the article you would know that the BBC has a dedicated unit for pronunciation, so there are no excuses. it’s not about being self-righteous, but about respect.
Imagine if a Welsh TV presenter mangled an English place name, as they are quite literally much harder to fathom in terms of pronunciation. We’d never hear the end of it, no doubt with yet more questioning about the standard of education in Wales.
I know they do. I also know how live tv works and stuff happens. People need to get over it.
If I was s4c I would be petty and do exactly that, get an anchor to pronounce slough as sluff
Yes, but the other places around the world do not have to pay a compulsory license fee to pay for the BBC and the salaries of their news casters. If we pay the tax then we should demand respect and expect the efforts of those we employ.
Actually many do, certainly the Netherlands & Belgium, it is perhaps a bit less obvious as it is added to cable(internet) bills…
The denigration should be for the BBC in this case not the presenter. She did pronounce “Bannau” correctly rather than pronounce it Bannaw as could be expected of someone who was unfamiliar withy Cymraeg. That suggests that the BBC did advise her but then cast her adrift with the autocue and “Brycheiniog”. It’s not being “Self righteous” to expect an organisation that presents itself to the world as British to get British names that are not English correct Presenters have earpieces with which the programme producers can communicate so it would be easy for the presenter to receive the correct… Read more »
Sadly, I reluctantly agree with your last paragraph.
There’s even videos produced by the BBC on the BBC website that tell people how to say it
Did anyone notice that on the recent Coast and Country special we had “Rumney River” instead of”River Rhymney?”
I noticed it. But it was only spelled the ‘Cardiff’ way on the captions. I had the subtitles switched on, and they rendered the name as Rhymney.
Though strictly the proper Welsh surely ought to be Rhymni.
“Afon Rhymni” to be correct.
Hmmm…. perhaps I’m reading too much into this but it seems like a ‘microaggression’ to me – she might (quite rightly, I might add) be sick of people mangling her surname and has vented some frustration by punching down on a safe, soft target?
Even if it wasn’t intentional, it is clearly unprofessional and shows a lack of preparation. Pretty bad either way.
Yes, I agree, it’s poor preparation. Preparation that should be part of her job. The BBC in London has to get it’s act together – if it can be bothered…
If it had been French she’d have made sure of the pronunciation.
But as it’s only Welsh any nonsense will do.
Careful: you’ll be labelled a Racist against the French with that nonsensical comment..
I’m hesistant about immediately ganging up on an Afro-British newsreader for bungling the pronunciation of a single Welsh placename. The article points out that the BBC has an entire unit specifically to help newsreaders with pronunciation.. Maybe they were asleep on the job.
I’m far more concerned about the casual anti-Welsh prejudice that white English media figures openly flaunt in the form of “comedy”.
Afro is a hair cut. African is a DNA Haplo group. FTR the casual anti-Welsh prejudice comes from some Scottish and Northern Irish people. Assuming it’s just “White English” is either ignorant or racist in of itself. The HIGNFY example included Kirsty Wark making all the usual casual racist comments about the Welsh language, and don’t get me started on some Northern Irish politicians! 🙄😒
The English migrated here over a thousand years ago, probably in boats, but have not managed to pick up a modicum of Cymraeg in all that time. It just shows a complete lack of respect. I sometimes wonder if it is a deliberate act on their part.
It is, it’s done as a means to anglicise the entire island. Look, you can’t pass of Britain as being England if their is a language that shows the name originates with a people other than the Anglos.
The English did’nt ‘ Migrate’ over a 1,000 years ago, they conquered Wales. Bit of a difference. Why would they learn Welsh? 🤷
Nonsense, Anglo Saxon England fell to the Normans in just one day.
Have you ever heard of the Battle of Hastings?
It was the Normans who overrun Cymru not the Anglo Saxons.
Oh dear. I am uncertain how to pronounce her personal name. What about Bicester, pronounce Bister; or Happisburgh, pronounced Harsboro.
Who is this guy Allan whose name is all over the place?
I was watching a UK-wide news channel earlier today – I forget which one – on which the news-reader pronounced Bannau Brycheiniog more or less accurately. Some do manage the pronunciation.
BBC 24 hour news got the pronunciation pretty much right last night, some time after 11 pm. Maybe they’re learning … slowly!
We are foreigners in our own land, hence our name, Welsh in Wales. A recent post about English superiority complex on the net, quoted the joke, about the Englishman the Scotsman and the Irishman, and said the most notable part was the lack of acknowledgement of the Welshman. I am not surprised, I grew up with this.
Are you seriously that thin skinned??
It’s not the first time with this newsreader is it. It comes across as being disrespectful or as if the BBC doesn’t care… which is probably the case actually. We are just not important enough for them to attempt to get it right. If it was Worcester or Leicestershire she was mispronouncing I think the BBC would treat it differently.
‘BBC newsreader Catherine Byaruhang was seemingly unprepared when it came to pronouncing Bannau Brycheiniog on today’s BBC news.’
Oops her name is Catherine Byaruhanga.
A failing by the BBC not providing guidance on to Ms Byaruhanga. Which is something they should know full well that they should do even if just to maintain a pretence of being the BBC rather than the EBC.
In another interview on the BBC the person representing businesses in the Park avoided mentioning the words “Bannau Brycheiniog” altogether though did muster a “Diolch” at the end.
It’s a matter of respect and disrespect. To miss province Cymraeg and pass it off as of no consequence is disrespectful , to object to such behaviour is perfectly understandable ,particularly, when we see, on a daily basis the care they take to pronounce other languages .
I’ve complained to the BBC on numerous occassions about their mangled pronounciations of Welsh place names. I’ve received apologies in which they accept that they should be doing better. However, it is clear that they continue to let down their newsreaders and fail to prepare them. This is disrespectful and it does reveal the lack of giving a damn by those in leadership at the corporation.
One thing I’ve learned in life is that (sadly), those who kick up enough fuss, make enough noise are the ones who get their way.
I have noticed on several shows on TV the presenter avoids attempting a Welsh placename and prefers to say North or South Wales. When introducing contestants on a quiz show the presenter will introduce them as being from a town or county’s name but when it comes to a Welsh contestant it is usually just Wales.
So much faux anger!
As in faux off ?
BOTH WELSH AND ENGLISH pronunciations are acceptable why didnt she stick with the one that worked for her ?
??
There’s only one correct pronunciation of “Brycheiniog”.
Yes, it’s called Brecon Beacons..👍
Your living in the dinosaur age.
Well at least she tried. And just because she didn’t get it 100% right she is being treated as if she was Wales’ Public Enemy No 1. I would respectfully ask all those who’ve ranted against her to ask themselves what sort of a message their conduct sends out to Dysgwyr. If they think that they’ll be insulted and mocked for every mistake they make, how much of an encouragement is that going to give them?
The presenter isn’t a learner of Welsh anymore than she is presumably a learner of Ukrainian, Hebrew, Arabic or Farsi to name other languages that made an appearance in the bulletin.
So it’s not a message to Dysgwyr Cymraeg but yet another message to the British Broadcasting Corporation made because the British Broadcasting Corporation still can’t be @rsed to get Welsh names correctly pronounced.
But the hostile way in which many people have reacted here in denigrating someone who made an effort to pronounce a Welsh name and didn’t get it 100% right, will make many dysgwyr feel that fluent Welsh speakers will be angry with them if they make mistakes and might make them want to give up. OK this presenter may not be a dysgwr but the reaction that is shown to her here may make many dysgwyr perceive that their efforts aren’t good enough unless they are perfect. Furthermore I am more than a little uncomfortable with the fact that the… Read more »
There are a few (about four I think) comments that could be described as “denigrating” the presenter. Two of which are by the same author. There are many more that either disagree or point to the BBC rather than the presenter being responsible. So your “But the hostile way in which many people have reacted here[to the presenter]” is very much a distortion of the facts. You then use this distortion as a basis to create a false narrative adding Welsh learners and people of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (who may or may not be of concern to you)… Read more »
If you read and understood my post you will see that I wasn’t implying that those criticising the BBC’s handling of the matter were racist (although I wouldn’t be so generous to those who did denigrate her personally) I was talking about perceptions among people from BAME communities in Wales who might see white fluent Welsh speakers, criticising the fact that a non white person is unable to pronounce a Welsh name correctly. I realise that the responsibility for correct pronunciation lies with the BBC rather than her personally but I do think that it’s unfortunate that the person who… Read more »
” Is there not a danger that they may interpret is as racial prejudice on the part of Welsh speakers?”
Either you know full well the implication of what you wrote or you don’t understand what you wrote.
Dysgwyr aren’t presenting the BBC News.
👍👏👏
I wonder if you know what Dysgwyr means!
It’s obvious they didn’t explain to her so they could throw her under the bus. This sort of thing is done with the full knowledge of the higher ups. They are trying to shame the youth of Wales in front of the entire world into not wanting to speak it.
I’d get off the individual newsreader’s case…its institutional. Sort it out BBC.
Before we become pious regarding the English, Northern Irish etc mispronouncing Cymraeg let’s start at home. I hear so much massacring of our language Yn Nghymru…Care for Caer is routine. Non Irish speakers take great care to get to pronounce Irish properly. Amser i ni wneud yr un peth.
Annibyniaeth i Gymru
Everyone understands and can pronounce the name “The Brecon Beacons”. Was the compulsory, but undemocratic, change of name political? Wales is bilingual, but that seems to only apply one way.
If the person is speaking English then the common English name should be used, so that everyone understands.
Well said..👍
Try telling people in India to say Bombay instead of Mumbai and see what reaction you get.
If you don’t know English is also a National Language in India.