Spotted an interesting quote from Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group, about how the public relations businesses within the group are the main driver for business growth:

YouTube, Flickr and MySpace have emphasised to clients that editorial publicity is stronger than paid-for publicity. If bloggers are saying nasty things about you, you can indulge yourself in a campaign to try to improve what they are talking about. PR has become more important structurally as a result.

Leaving aside the oversimplification about bloggers saying nasty things, I agree completely with this. Public relations is the profession that’s best placed to lead businesses and organisations through the confusing world of social media.
Other areas within businesses, such as marketing or even IT, may stake their claim, but it strikes me that the typical public relations skillset is the best starting point for leading effective business communications in social media.
(via PR Week, UK edition)