Newspaper Article Format In Word

When sending writing samples to a potential employer, which format should I use?
I am sending them to a popular newspaper chain, and they have requested samples of my writing via e-mail. In the past, I have always sent them as attachments in Microsoft Word, but I am not sure if this is the standard for professional writing samples. I also thought about providing links to a few of my articles that were published with another newspaper, but I don’t know if that might be too informal. Suggestions please?
Microsoft Word is acceptable with most people, including employers. If you have applied for a job online at all, notice that many sites ask you to upload a resume in Word format.
As for providing links to work, that may also be acceptable to some, but I can really only speak for documents formatted in Word.
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