The great thing about being a print journalist is that you are permitted to duck. Cameramen get killed while the writers are flat on the floor. A war correspondent for the BBC dedicated his memoir to 50 fallen colleagues, and I guarantee you they were all taking pictures. I am only alive because I am such a chicken.

Summary

This quote highlights the relatively safer position of print journalists compared to cameramen during dangerous situations, such as war. By emphasizing the act of "ducking" and being "flat on the floor," the quote implies that writers have a greater chance of survival as they are not directly exposed to immediate danger like the cameramen who are capturing visual footage. It also touches upon the dedication of fallen colleagues, indicating that they were all in the line of fire, while the speaker credits their own survival to being cautious or cowardly.

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