"La Clave" of TVE, a debate program in the history of television in Spain (19761985)

Abstract

This article proposes the analysis of the television program La clave. As the article develops we look at the characteristic elements of the format that have contributed to its legitimization in the collective imagination of the Spanish people, as one of the exemplary programs in the positive conception of the media. To show this, we contemplate signs of identity, outlined in the ubiquitous presence of its creator, host and moderator, the journalist José Luis Balbín. The format provides the projection of a feature film and subsequent dialectic exposure of social, political and cultural themes through a variety of guests with opposing views. This must be understood in a historical context, where there was no previous experience of such practice. These signs of identity have permitted its consecration as a milestone in the history of television in Spain.