WHY is it that many broadcasters and other areas of the media today use technicalities as a matter of course and fail to explain the basics of anything?

This thought struck me as I watched the Olympic cycling events, completely unaware of what exactly they were doing apart from the obvious of trying to win a medal.

Until I actually looked it up, I thought the Peloton was a kind of race rather than being the main pack of riders. And I couldn’t fathom why some riders, having got in a very strong position themselves, suddenly waved others through.

Now I admit I am relatively thick about some sports, about lots of topics generally. But I really do resent watching mainstream TV programmes in particular and being expected to have a level of knowledge to do this.

The Olympics is a classic example and it was reinforced during the gymnastics and rugby sevens. The technical terms are great and we do need to know what constitutes a winning performance, but why can’t we also have some very simple background knowledge on the sport?

It’s not just sport, either. So-called celebrities are now automatically referred to without any explanation as if we all watch Big Brother and know (or care) who has won previous series or is in another reality TV series.

We had this attitude all the way through the Brexit campaign and I’m convinced that if the issues had been better explained and the implications of in or out highlighted simply, more people would have voted with a complete understanding of what was going on – and more people would have voted.

If you see a programme involving any area of IT or social media, the presenters or those interviewed can’t help but reel off technical words and phrases that we are all supposed to understand.

You would not patronise people like me – and I suspect there are many – and we would be actively grateful if we could just have a proper idea of what on earth you’re talking about.

As a working journalist I was always taught that you should never assume any level of knowledge and always explain everything as if people had never heard of the subject before. We seem to have lost this so, please, can we have it back? I really want to enjoy the Olympics but I need to know what I’m looking at.