[4] He was the owner of Hadiqat al-Akhbar ('The News Garden', 1858–1911), the first Arabic newspaper in Beirut, the origins of which may be pinpointed to a group of Syrians assembled at the forgotten Médawar Literary Circle.

[5] Quoting Jens Hanssen and Hicham Safieddine, he "was the first to popularize a sense of Syrian identity.

"[4] Hadiqat al-Akhbar "was the first Arabic newspaper to publish translations from Western narrative fiction, especially from the French Romance stories.

"[4] Khuri also published a fictional narrative of his own, Wayy, Idhan Lastu bi-Ifranji ('Alas, I Am Not a Foreigner'), in Hadiqat al-Akhbar (1859–61).

The literary activity of the newspaper "played a substantial role in changing the aesthetic literary taste, and paved the way for the birth of an authentic Arabic narrative fiction.