MySpace Slashes Nearly Half Of Global Staff

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Struggling entertainment site MySpace says it is cutting 47 percent of its staff worldwide, or about 500 people.

KNX 1070's John Brooks Reports

Mike Jones, the chief executive of MySpace, said in a statement Tuesday that the cuts are "tough but necessary" and have been taken to put the site on a path to growth and profitability.

The move follows an extensive revamp in October that focused MySpace on giving its users more ways to consume music, videos and celebrity gossip and away from being an all-purpose social networking site like Facebook. MySpace has said it is no longer trying to compete with Facebook.

News Corp. bought the site in 2005 for $580 million but it has been losing money consistently. Executives put it on a short leash to get on a profitable footing.

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