UPDATE: According to Kristin Mason, director of public relations at the About Group, the company is eliminating 15 of the 22 full or part-time positions in the editorial department.

Ten new full-time jobs will be created.

ORIGINAL: About.com, the information portal The New York Times Co. purchased for $410 million in cash in 2005, just laid off its entire editorial staff today, a source tells us.

In July, Darline Jean took over as CEO of About Group, replacing Cella Irvine.

Jean, previously the company's CFO, was tasked with turning around falling revenue. It dropped 17.3% in the second quarter.

We reached out to About.com's PR staff to confirm but have yet to hear back.

Kristin Mason, director of public relations at the About Group, emailed the following statement:



We are restructuring the About.com Guide Operations team to focus on operational efficiencies that will position us well for the future. The new structure will include new tools and processes designed to enhance quality and productivity, and ultimately, to improve our ability to deliver the high-quality expert content About.com users want and expect. In order to create the new structure, 15 positions are being eliminated and 10 new positions are being created to support the new organizational structure.



Hear anything more? Let us know (ndavis@businessinsider.com; 646.376.6016).