[Michael Morris]

Try this

PHP Code:

trim($newsflash) 


That will remove unnecessary spaces.

Hence

PHP Code:

eval( '$newsflash = "' .fetch_template ('newsflash_all' ) . '";' );
trim($newsflash);

if (empty( $newsflash )) //If it's empty we'll get our usergroup newsflashs
{
    $newsflash = 'test-true';

} 


If $newsflash has even a single space, it isn't empty. If it's nothing but spaces are there trim will removed them and leave it null.