Questions and Answers about Polygamy

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017-11-0140-mormon-polygamy-q-and-a?category=church-history-topics&lang=eng

In connection with the publication of the first volume of the new history, Saints - The Story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, several videos have been made dealing with Church History. In this video, two historians answer questions about polygamy.

Questions about Joseph Smith and Polygamy

As the article, It’s Official: Mormon Founder Had Up to 40 Wives by Laurie Goodstein printed November 10, 2014 in The New York Times, Ms. Goodstein asks several questions. I've wondered how I could answer; Yes, No, maybe, sort of. Real life is rather complicated and simple answers don't always fit, so I'll give you the information and let you decide for yourself.

Have leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really tried to keep hidden about Joseph Smith's plural wives?

Joseph Smith and Plural Marriage

Apparently there is a lot of flurry over an article posted November 10th on the front page of the New York Times. This syndicated article has appeared in many other newspapers across the nation.
The author, Laurie Goodstein, of  It's Official: Mormon Founder Had Up to 40 Wives begins her article by making a "startling disclosure":

"Mormon leaders have acknowledged for the first time that the church’s founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, portrayed in church materials as a loyal partner to his loving spouse Emma, took as many as 40 wives, some already married and one only 14 years old."

The article goes on to say that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is now responding "with openness to the kind of thorny historical and theological issues that are causing some to become disillusioned or even to abandon the faith".

She even throws in an emotional quote by Utah woman blogger, Emily Jenson, to "substantiate" her claim. Ms. Jenson says that members are saying on blogs and social media, “This is not the church I grew up with, this is not the Joseph Smith I love.”

A Jewish friend of mine, a New Yorker, posed a question to me. She asked why, though appearing "objective", would this article try and destroy the founder of an American church and "undermine the faith of thousands of people, saying basically that they have been duped all these years?"

That is a very good question. Why? What is going on here?