Eisteddfod boss criticises coverage of Welsh-language rule

A National Eisteddfod boss has described news coverage of its refusal to let a bilingual rapper perform at the festival as "clickbait".

Chief executive Betsan Moses said it was inaccurate to use the word "ban" to describe the festival's decision to turn down Sage Todz.

Todz was told he could not perform at the festival this year because of its Welsh-language only policy.

The festival's rules state all performances must be in Welsh.

Ms Moses told BBC Radio Cymru's Bore Sul programme that "it is the responsibility of journalists to check their wording".

She said: "I feel, at times, that journalism has turned into clickbait and that we have lost sight of the truth as it doesn't sell so well, and the word ban sounds better than 'there is a discussion or a decision that he will not take part'."

The National Eisteddfod's rules state that all compositions and competing must be in Welsh "unless specified to the contrary".

It said several options had been offered to Todz, including a commission to create new songs in Welsh, something the rapper refused.

He said later that his songs were "finished products, not subject to change".

Ms Moses said that she and chairman of the National Eisteddfod management board, Ashok Ahir, had received "personal, unfair and inappropriate messages" following news reports about its decision.

"I've told staff, take a step back. We have to protect our artists, be clear about the welcome to the Eisteddfod, but also be true to our language rule," she said.

Earlier this week ,singers Izzy Morgana Rabey and Eadyth Crawford said they would not perform at the Eisteddfod pavilion gig this year unless the language policy for "invited artists" changed.

Welsh government minister for economy, Vaughan Gething, called on the National Eisteddfod to reconsider the language rule, adding including an artist like Todz in the Eisteddfod would bring the Welsh language to a wider audience.

But Ms Moses claimed Mr Gething was responding to the concept of a ban, and "there never was a ban".

"It is necessary to ensure that the evidence is there before the story begins," she said.

"That headline was given and what happened afterwards is that one side attacked the other."

Defending the language rule, she said: "It sounds like something negative, but it is one week in a year where someone can hear Welsh.

"We have had lovely emails from learners saying that the rule is important to [them] - it means that we can immerse ourselves in the language and see where we are on the journey."

She said that artists' decisions "must be respected", but added: "We must also respect the rule and that the Eisteddfod is for promoting the Welsh language and giving people the opportunity to be immersed in the Welsh language."

Ms Moses also said the Eisteddfod was a "mirror of Wales", and that the festival organisers want the event to show "that this is contemporary Wales".

The full interview can be heard on Radio Cymru's Bore Sul program and on BBC Sounds