This article starts from the premise that a considerable part of the interpretations and criticisms of the agenda-setting theory focus on statements about the most general conclusions in agenda-setting research rather than on its fundamentals, limits and conditions of validity. On the other hand, it defends the legitimacy of some criticisms of the theory, more specifically those related to the design of agenda-setting research, the methods whereby it is investigated, and how the relevance (salience) of its themes is presented. In this regard, the intention is to point out how some of these criticisms have been overcome through the systematization of some possibilities for the expansion of the centripetal and centrifugal dimensions of this paradigm when investigated by means of WWW systems and environments.
agenda-setting; epistemology; journalism; Web