I call BS. One of the things that convinced me this (that is, how reddit treats and responds to its mods) was a real problem, and not just some "angsty mods", was the reaction from /r/AskScience. AskScience is one of the best subreddits, largely because its moderation is so good. The fact that the AskScience mods stood up in agreement with what was going on, and pointed out how non-responsive admins had been, made me believe this is much more than a "power play".