Based in Melbourne, Australia, he is acknowledged internationally for his published work on the global television and advertising industries, particularly as they have developed in Latin America and Asia.
Sinclair completed his PhD on the impact of television advertising in Mexico, investigating the "cultural imperialism" thesis prevalent at the time.
[5] Sinclair has continued to research in each of these areas, more recent work being published as: Advertising, the Media and Globalisation in 2012;[6] Latin American Television Industries in 2013 (with Joseph D. Straubhaar);[7] Consumer Culture in Latin America (co-edited with Anna Pertierra)[8] in 2012; and Media and Communication in the Chinese Diaspora in 2016 (co-edited with Wanning Sun).
He has given guest lectures and held visiting professorships at universities in the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Portugal, and Spain, where he was UNESCO Professor of Communication in 1999.
He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2001,[10] and has served as Head of its Cultural and Communication Studies Section.