My strong suspicion is that mods generally either operate programmatically (that is, adjust site and other weights to favour or deprecate specific sources or st

My strong suspicion is that mods generally either operate programmatically (that is, adjust site and other weights to favour or deprecate specific sources or stories, tweak flamewar detectors, voting-ring detectors, etc.), follow up on complaints emailed to them, and/or adjust member-based actions (voting, flags, vouches), etc. That leverages their power far more than individually policing stories, though keeping an eye on the 30-odd stories which are on the front page at any time probably fits in somewhere as well.