JEDDAH: Veteran Saudi journalist Turki Al-Sudairi, former editor of Al-Riyadh newspaper, died on Sunday at the age of 73.

The “king of journalism,” as the late King Abdullah described him, worked for more than four decades in the media industry in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that Minister of Culture and Information Awwad Al-Awwad paid his condolences to Al-Sudairi’s family, saying: “He spent most of his life serving his nation and the Saudi media… writing about development and the worries of the nation and citizens. He was a good representation of the Kingdom in international conventions.”

Al-Sudairi was editor of Al-Riyadh for 41 years, from 1974 until he resigned in 2015. He then continued to write his daily column “Leqaa” (“Meeting”), in which he reflected on Saudi and Arab society and their development.

He established a woman’s section at Al-Riyadh, which set a precedent in the Saudi media scene.

His journalistic career began as a sports writer. He then became deputy editor in chief and later editor in chief of Al-Riyadh.

“I never watched football since I became an editor in chief,” he told Al Arabiya TV in 2015.

Al-Sudairi was the first to be elected chairman of the Gulf Journalism Union in 2005, and he was president of the board of directors of the Saudi Journalists Association. He was born in Al-Ghat, a small town in Riyadh province.