The issue is more that this:
"As the party creeps down the corridor, Jeral feels a sudden pain, as a crossbow bolt blooms from his right shoulder. Roll Initiative."
is more immersive for the players than
"As the party creeps down the corridor...Roll Initiative. <Set up initiative order>. Jeral feels a sudden pain, as a crossbow bolt blooms from his right shoulder."
No mechanical difference, but it adds to the experience to not be told that a surprise attack is coming before it happens. This isn't really a problem for my group, because I have no problem making hidden rolls for the PCs when it adds to the play experience. I'd just roll everyone's initiative in secret myself and then narrate the first way. But for DMs who aren't comfortable making players' rolls for them, I get the impression that there is a trend of not using the current initiative rules, and just using a surprise round or such in order to avoid narrating the second way.