Putting myself in the military planners' shoes, I would notice first the need to maximize effectiveness given the political and manpower constraints. That translates to me to "use all possible non-military advantages available".
Note: including an "adversarial" domestic press corps!
The press gets it wrong so much of the time, why not utilize that fact to full advantage? The easiest way would be to arrange it so that the press does not view the full strength of the military position as it advances; shield a portion of the position from the press. The adversarial press would then report weakness, holes, and failed tactics, while advantage is stealthily being gained on the actual battlefield.
That way, the multibillion dollar mainstream media industry can be used profitably to military advantage, with no loss of life. It is too good of an opportunity to pass up.
This is why press reports, at least at this early stage, do not bother me much if they report bad news.
The only reason not to do this, in my view, would be if the administration had any respect for the press. Watching a couple of press conferences being held by Fleischer, I get the impression that they don't (and that the press doesn't deserve any).