comparing fields with nulls and spaces

comparing fields with nulls and spaces

I have a multiline field on a stateless form and on a corresponding master form. In the on load section of the stateless  form I set the value of the stateless form field to the value from the master form field. On submit I send an email if the information was changed. The problem is the email is triggered because the master field has a value of null and the stateless field has a value of blank.

Is there a better way to compare the two fields so that nulls and spaces\blanks are treated the same?

Here is the statement I'm currently using
    if (Master_Record.Field1  !=  input.Field1 )