The Daily Herald will become the first newspaper in the Chicago area to charge regularly for digital access, the company announced today in letters to its readers….

The new policy will take effect Sept. 7. Non-subscribers will be allowed a small number of free page views of content each 30-day period to sample dailyherald.com before access to the site is restricted. This policy will apply to most content, the company said, but some features will be categorized as premium content and restricted altogether.

Print subscribers to the ArlingtonHeights-based daily will get the digital offerings for $1 extra a week. Non-subscribers will have to pay $19.95 a month.

I like the Herald. Many fine journalists work there or have worked there. And I really want this model for sustaining quality online journalism to work.

But I must say I’m skeptical. You?

Related via Romenesko: Newspaper paywalls: Lessons learned