Do we really need a portfolio?

I’ve found that since I’ve been writing a lot at the newspaper, I’m starting to worry that I may need to put together a portfolio. Grabbing a stack of newspapers to take to an interview isn’t the most professional, aesthetically speaking.
So, I’ve decided to figure out how to put together a suitable portfolio for my published articles. I’m not sure how, exactly, to put the portfolio together yet, but I’ve been poking around the internet for more information. I don’t have a lot of clips, only about 8 or 10, and it isn’t all writing, some are photographs. I don’t know if I’m going to put myportfolio will be in a black, leather-bound book or if I will try to stand out with a color other than black. I’m getting there, though.
I have found a website that answers some writing portfolio questions fairly well:
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/easywriter3e/addresources/1.asp
There are also a lot of websites that answer questions about advertising portfolios and art portfolios:
http://www.siu.edu/~aaf/portfolio.html
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:3qTHfdaoDFgJ:www.cnr.edu/home/sas/artdept/portfolioprep.pdf+How+do+I+put+together+an+art+portfolio%3F&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a
The following website has links to several different sites for every type of portfolio you could possibly want to know about:
http://www.allcreativeportfolios.com/portfoliolinks.php