Journalist. Entrepreneur. Community activist. Those are a few of the titles Scott Cronick has held since moving to South Jersey exactly 30 years ago.
As an award-winning journalist, Cronick celebrated a 28-year run at The Press of Atlantic City that included him working as an editor in sports, news and eventually entertainment, where he would excel as a music and food critic, eventually becoming the Director of Entertainment Publications for The Press of Atlantic City, including At The Shore magazine and Atlantic City Weekly. While there, he helped grow those brands, reinvigorated events such as Top 40 Under 40 and the Nightlife Awards and created new events such as Burger Bash and Wing Wars, the latter which he still runs that is called Atlantic City Wing Fest, held the week before the Super Bowl every year at Golden Nugget.
While at The Press, Cronick was mentored by the late Bob Burns and Pinky Kravitz to begin a radio career at Longport Media, hosting his own one-hour show and then taking over for Kravitz with the legend’s blessing upon his retirement. Cronick has held Kravitz’s longtime 4 to 6 p.m. time slot on Newstalk 1400-AM, 92.3-FM WOND since 2015, where he is the No. 1 drive time talk show in the market, interviewing celebrities, politicians, sports figures and newsmakers locally as well as from around the globe.
His public profile has also allowed Cronick to be very involved in helping and working with the community.
He is honored to serve as the co-executive director of the MBCA Foundation with Gary Hill. The 30-plus-year-old organization started by legends Hill and John Schultz launched a new mission to beautify Atlantic City to make it a better place to live, work and visit.
Cronick is also a freelance journalist, working for various publications, particularly Shore Local, where he has a weekly column.
Cronick was also part of the Tennessee Avenue Renaissance Project in Atlantic City, co-owning Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall - a 40-tap, indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant that was named one of the best beer pubs in the country by USA Today.
Cronick’s other charitable work includes being a former member of the executive board of The Food Bank of New Jersey, Southern Branch, for which he has helped collect tons of food and tens of thousands of dollars during his annual Thanksgiving broadcast for Longport Media’s Operation Help. He is co-founder of Dancing Under the Atlantic City Stars, which raised more than $1 million for local charities in just two years. He also serves on the boards for two Atlantic City renewal projects: the Midtown CDC and the Chelsea EDC.
Despite all of those accomplishments, it’s the people in his life that drive Cronick the most, including his wife LaRissa, his son Sam, his mom and his in-laws.